'Evil predator' jailed indefinitely for killing 19-year-old student in savage attack in Clerkenwell
Warning the below article includes content some may find distressing.
An asylum seeker who nearly beheaded a student as he stabbed her to death in her hall of residence has been jailed indefinitely.
Maher Maaroufe stabbed his 19-year-old girlfriend Sabita Thanwani in the neck with a knife at around 5am on March 19, 2022.
He attacked her at her University of London accommodation in Clerkenwell, with the wound inflicted almost decapitating her.
Tunisian-born Maaroufe, 24, admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility because he was suffering from schizoaffective disorder.
He also pleaded guilty to a charge of assault by beating an emergency worker.
Ms Thanwani’s family described him as “evil predator” and a “monster”.
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Judge Nigel Lickley KC sentenced him at the Old Bailey to a hospital order without limit of time.
He told Maaroufe: “Sabita had her whole life ahead of her. You ended her life.
“You actions will continue to cause enduring pain and suffering.”
The court heard that Maaroufe entered the UK legally on an unknown date, but had overstayed and was in the process of claiming asylum at the time of the attack.
Ms Thanwani had complained that Maaroufe was “possessive and controlling”, even waiting outside nightclubs she was in to escort her home.
The evening before the attack, Ms Thanwani met Maaroufe, who was wearing a balaclava, outside a mosque and they spent time in Edgware Road and Oxford Street.
After they had returned to Ms Thanwani’s accommodation, other students heard her shouting “stop”, “I can’t breathe” and “I beg you, don’t kill me” in the early hours of the morning.
Maaroufe tried to get into another room before leaving the building in Sebastian Street.
The court heard, he was found by police asleep under a tarpaulin in a garden shed and head-butted an officer while being arrested.
Ms Thanwani, an aspiring psychologist, was described as a “hardworking, conscientious, kind and caring young woman”.
Her family branded Maaroufe a “murderer” despite his plea to the lesser charge of manslaughter being accepted by the prosecution.
Her mother Rheea said: “He murdered Sabita, he murdered me, he murdered all of us.”
The victim’s 22-year-old brother Raveen added that “anger and rage consumes” him when thinking about Maaroufe.
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