‘Evil’ labourer bludgeoned grandmother to death with nailed club then dumped naked body
At the Old Bailey today Valentin Lazar was sentenced to life in prison
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A labourer who followed a grandmother off a bus and beat her to death with a wooden club embedded with nails has been jailed.
Valentin Lazar, 21, attacked and strangled Maria Rawlings, 45, in Romford, east London, on May 3 last year.
Her naked body was found in some nearby bushes by a dog walker the next day. The 21-year-old pleaded guilty to murder and his actions were branded as “evil” by the vicitm’s family.
Today at the Old Bailey Judge Mark Lucraft QC sentenced Lazar to life in prison with a minimum term of 23 years and six months.
He said: “This murder involved an intoxicated woman alone late at night, and she was particularly vulnerable. This was a savage and sustained attack and a high degree of pain and suffering was inflicted here.
“In my view, it was with the intention to kill. Maria Rawlings was naked, and that is additional humiliation and degradation.”
The court previously heard that Mrs Rawlings was captured on CCTV boarding the bus at 11pm at the same stop as Lazar.
Lazar was filmed initially talking to Mrs Rawlings after they got off the bus, before grabbing hold of her arm and leading her into the bushes.
He emerged from the bushes 31 minutes later, briefly going back in to retrieve the victim’s handbag.
A post-mortem revealed she had been killed following compression to her neck. She had also suffered injuries to her mouth, chest and knee.
A public appeal led to the Lazar’s arrest. After being taken into custody on May 9 he claimed he had no memory of the attack, adding: “I can’t remember what happened yesterday”.
Mrs Rawlings’ two daughters Charlee and Katie sat at the back of the court and wept throughout the hearings.
In a moving victim impact statement, Charlee said: “I do not think I actually know where to start to explain the impact my mum’s murder has had on me.
“My mum was my best friend. I am 17 years old and lived with my mum.
“We were best friends, we talked about everything, we shared everything in our lives.”
Miss Rawlings described her mother as “extremely supportive” and a loving grandmother to her own son.
“She was a fun-loving soul who would never cause any harm to anyone.
She added: “I ask myself if she was conscious when he did those evil things to her. His face is stuck in my head.
“I hate to think his face was the last thing she saw, that she was looking at him in the last moments of her life.”
Mrs Rawlings’ eldest daughter described the heartbreak of knowing her mother is only a memory and they won’t make any more together.
“Every day I wake up and my first thought is my mum. I wonder when my morning phone call will be, then I remember the truth and my heart sinks,’ she wrote.
“I ask myself why he would do that to my mum. These thought go around and around in my head. I wonder what my mum was feeling when he targeted her.”
Additional reporting by Central News
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