‘He stabbed her to death because she would not have an abortion’

A fatally injured pregnant woman staggered into the street in her dressing gown after she was repeatedly stabbed by her boyfriend for refusing to have an abortion, a court heard.

Shaine March, 47, has admitted killing Alana Odysseos, 32, in Walthamstow, east London, on July 22 last year.

Neighbours heard the mother-of-two shouting: ‘I don’t want to kill my baby’ to March before he stabbed her.

Ms Odysseos, 32, was then heard screaming ‘Shaine stabbed me’ outside her home, jurors were told.

He later told police he had told her to have an abortion saying ‘I did it, I killed her ha ha ha’ and ‘send me to jail where I belong’ telling them ‘I regret nothing.’

The couple had also argued over a pair of trainers, the court heard.

March admits manslaughter, claiming his responsibility is diminished by psychiatric issues, but denies murder.

He was not the father of her two children, the court heard.

Prosecutor Louise Oakley said: ‘At approximately 3am on 22 July 2024, members of the public who lived in Lynmouth Road in Walthamstow began to ring 999.

‘Alana Odysseos lived on Lynmouth Road. They had found her outside her address.

‘She was wearing her nightie and a dressing gown clutching her right side.

‘She was bleeding from multiple stab wounds to her body.

‘She was shouting “Shaine stabbed me, he stabbed me” and “Shaine stabbed me, he stabbed me. Help! Help!”.

‘She was pointing to a male close by who neighbours recognised as Shaine March.

‘It was clear that she required urgent medical assistance. The defendant walked away leaving them to commence that medical assistance.

‘The police and London Ambulance Service arrived very quickly after the calls were received.

‘But despite their very best efforts Alana Odysseos could not be saved. She died on the ground outside her home address.

‘This defendant had stabbed her to death.

‘By July 2024, she had been in a relationship with the defendant for approximately four months on the date of her death and had recently discovered she was pregnant.

‘She was someone who had experienced huge personal loss following the death of two partners and fathers of her children.

‘She had at times tried to find peace and comfort in the use of drugs and alcohol. She was vulnerable.

‘All she wanted by the time she died was to be loved. She desperately wanted to create a secure family environment for her two-year-old daughter.

‘About three months before her death, she had begun to make disclosures to friends and family about her relationship with the defendant.

‘She disclosed to a friend that she wasn’t allowed to talk to people, and that she had to answer her telephone at all times of the day, including video calls to prove where she was, and who she was with.

‘That began to argue constantly.

‘In other conversations she divulged that the defendant had destroyed and thrown out her daughter’s toys and they had argued about the fact she had find out she was pregnant.

‘She admitted that she had become scared of the defendant. There had plainly been physical violence.

‘You will hear reference to a glass being smashed in her face.

‘She complained that the defendant had interfered with and caused distance between her and her friends and family.

‘She told her sister that the defendant accused her of cheating on him, that he made her delete telephone numbers of any male contacts in her phone.

‘On one occasion, she had showed her sister voice notes on WhatsApp that the defendant had sent her, they were of him shouting and threatening to get her little girl taken away from her, calling her all sorts of derogatory names, and saying that their unborn child was not his and she should get an abortion.

‘As a result, her sister tried to persuade her to leave him. But Alana said she loved him. He promised Alana he would change.’

Six members of Ms Odysseos’ family were in court today.

March of Rainsborough Avenue, Surrey Quays, south London, denies murder but admits manslaughter due to diminished responsibility.

He appeared in the dock today wearing a white skull cap and blue Covid style face mask, assisted by an intermediary.

The trial, before Mr Justice Murray, continues and is set to last three weeks.