Life for delivery driver who murdered wife and blamed his son

A delivery driver who stabbed his wife to death, incinerated her body with petrol and then blamed his son for the killing has been jailed for 29 years.

Amidu Koroma, 48, set his own beard on fire when he tried to dispose of the body of nurse Mariam Kamara, 46, in Brixton, southwest London.

Firefighters were called to the scene as Koroma escaped the house with his son and were astonished to find out he had made no attempt to rescue his wife from the burning building.

When they entered the property in Railton Road, Brixton they discovered the fire had been contained to just the first floor bedroom where the badly burnt body was found.

Koroma himself had suffered burns to his foot and beard and still smelt of petrol when he was questioned by police.

Post-mortem results showed Ms Kamara was dead at the time of being set alight, having suffered several stab wounds to the neck and chest, with an absence of evidence of smoke inhalation.

Mariam Kamara

Jerry cans containing petrol were found the loft of the house, with the hatch open and both an empty jerry can and a metal funnel found, along with Miss Kamara’s blood on the banisters.

Koroma claimed his son, 19, was troubled and had killed his mother while re-enacting a scene from the Netflix show You.

He denied murder but was convicted by an Old Bailey jury.

Prosecutor Zoe Johnson KC read a statement from the victim’s son which said: ‘My mother was the best person in my life and she was always there.

‘Our relationship grew stronger.

‘We would usually go on holiday every year up until I was 14.

‘The number one person in my life, who I always called my best friend was taken so suddenly and I can’t understand why.

‘The number of impacts this has had on my life are substantial.

‘I have not been able to trust people since the incident happened.

‘It has affected my education as I have had to take time off in the most important stage of my life so far.

‘Before the incident I was a very active sportsperson, however since the death of my mother, I lost all motivation to play sport.

‘I have only cried twice since the passing of my mother and both have been when visiting her grave, that is usually when it hits that my mother is gone.

‘There is a large portion of my life that my mum will miss, the main one being university, as that was always one of her dreams.

‘After the incident I moved in with my aunt and uncle and they treated me as one of their own, however that has not been easy as they have two children of their own.

‘I know my mum had lots of friends and many were able to attend her funeral, which shows me how much she will be missed.’

Miss Johnson added: ‘The use of a knife and the evidence tends to suggest that that knife was removed from the kitchen and used to stab her four times.

‘Mariam Kamara may either have been asleep or close to sleep in bed.

‘The absence of any other blood outside the bedroom suggests it happened in the bedroom.

‘The only logical reason for setting the fire was to try and hide that Mariam died from a fire and not from stab wounds.

‘The defendant then tried to blame these heinous offences on his son.

‘It went beyond not accepting responsibility.’

Sentencing, Judge Rebecca Poulet told Koroma: ‘In the early hours of 24th January 2022, you murdered your wife Mariam Kamara, she was 46 at the time.

‘You did this by stabbing her four times in the neck.

‘Two of the wounds cut through vital blood vessels and either would have proved fatal.

‘It is likely she died within a minute.

‘Having killed her, probably as she lay sleeping in the bedroom, you set about trying to hide your crime.

‘This caused a very fierce fire in the upstairs bedroom and the loft.

‘I am satisfied that you have planned this terrible attack.

‘You did not work over the weekend when you were expected to do so.

‘You tried to destroy her mobile phone when you placed it under her body before you burnt her.

‘The court will never know exactly why you killed Mariam.

‘You frequently left for long periods of time, and you had a young child with another woman.

‘Mariam had recently bought a ticket to visit Sierra Leone.

‘I believe you didn’t want her to go to Sierra Leone.

‘She had told a friend that when she returned, she planned to end your relationship for good.

‘In the recent weeks before the murder, you started to threaten her in such a way that she feared for her life.

‘She told three people that you would kill her.

‘To one of these witnesses, Mariam also said “remember I have told you this.”

‘You sought to blame (your son) for both the murder of his mother and the burning, he is entirely innocent.

‘I read the victim impact statement and note how much he misses his mother; her death affects him deeply as he finds himself no longer able to trust anyone.

‘He is very sad she will not see him obtain a degree.

‘She was a well-qualified community nurse and her extensive charity work made her very popular in this community.

‘It is very likely but not certain that you took a knife from the kitchen.

‘There are several aggravating factors.

‘In my judgement, these features must substantially increase the starting point.

‘It was very fortunate that the fire service was as present as quickly as it was, or the 92 year-old in the room next-door to Mariam, the two young men in the basement or your own son would have been at great risk.’

Koroma, of Railton Road, Brixton, denied but was convicted of the murder of Mariam Kamara and of arson.

He was sentenced to life imprisonment and ordered to serve a minimum of 29 years imprisonment.
ENDS