Life for shop assistant who donned wig and gloves before murdering ex

A jealous Clintons shop assistant who donned a blonde wig and black leather gloves before stabbing her ex-lover to death was jailed for at least 20 years.

Hasna Begum, 25, started stalking Italian part-time DJ Pietro Sanna, 23, on social media after they broke up last December.

When Begum found out a woman called Giulia Consonni was following Mr Sanna on Instagram she called her an ‘ugly bitch’ and started sending her threatening messages through the social media site.

Begum, who is just 4ft 11 in tall, made her way to Mr Sanna’s home in Canning Town, east London on June 23 this year, and knifed him 36 times.

She made off with his mobile phone and ‘rubbed out’ his social media profiles in the days after the killing.

The shop worker said that she was ‘accessorising’ when she put on a blonde wig and gloves before making her way to Mr Sanna’s house.

Begum claimed she was defending herself after Mr Sanna kicked her in the chest, then grabbed a knife which he held towards her.

But a jury at Inner London Crown Court took two hours to convict her of murder today (mon).

Sentencing her to life imprisonment and ordering she serve at least 20 years before she can be considered for parole, Judge Jeremy Donne, QC, told her: ‘On 23 June this year you took a taxi to the address of your former boyfriend Pietro Sanna, you were dressed in a way that would make it difficult for you to be accurately described to the police as being who you really are.

‘You were seen by a witness to be angry, you had certainly behaved in an angry way in the days leading up to the 21st June, as evidenced by your threatening messages to Giulia Consonni, who had done little more than follow your former boyfriend on Instagram.

‘The threats you wrote to her speak for themselves, what was particularly concerning was the way in which you established an Instagram account with Giulia Consonni’s name with a photo of her and her family on it that must have been particularly disturbing for her.

‘Having gone to Pietro Sanna’s address, having a some point armed yourself with at least one knife – I say at least one knife because two knifes were found to be missing from the address afterwards – the number and direction of knife wounds, particularly to the back which tend to point from the extremes of the body towards the centre, either demonstrate a complete change in position or the simultaneous infliction of wounds with knifes in both hands.

‘Whether the wounds to the lower body were caused as he kicked out from the ground or by you when he was prone on the ground, simply to inflict further damage to him is again not to the point – what is relevant is that you continued to attack, causing a total of 36 wounds to his body, the overwhelming majority of which would have caused profuse blood loss and two of which puncturing his lungs.

‘After the attack you remained in his room and while he was dying or when he was dead, you helped yourself to some of his clothing and left the address, taking with you the knife or knifes and Pietro Sanna’s telephone.

‘Why you did this is not entirely clear but the indication is that you had an unhealthy obsession with Pietro Sanna.

‘What you did was a terribly wicked thing, it has had the damaging effect of depriving a family a son, it has also had the damaging effect of depriving your family from you.

‘All murders are completely senseless, this is both tragic and senseless.’

The pair had met in Canary Wharf where Begum worked at Clinton Cards and Mr Sanna worked at sandwich chain Birley’s.

Begum came from a traditionalist Muslim background and said her Bangladeshi parents would not consent to her drinking and having boyfriends, so they would meet secretly at his home during the year long relationship.

Giving evidence she said wearing a wig was ‘normal for her and she wore the gloves ‘to accessorise’ her outfit.

She said she believed he was cheating on her as she received texts ‘not meant for her’ and noticed a full packet of condoms had emptied during her visits to his home.

Begum was seen climbing out of her kitchen window shortly after 6am on June 23 wearing a blonde wig and black leather gloves.

CCTV cameras caught her jumping into a taxi and making her way to Mr Sanna’s home in Ravenscroft Grove and was seen by a neighbour banging loudly on his front door.

Just over an hour later, neighbours reported hearing a male voice shouting ‘I’m dying, I’m dying’ before his lifeless body was finally discovered three days later.

Begum fled the scene with his mobile phone, calling a taxi from the car park outside to get treatment for a cut on her finger.

She then returned hom to wash her blood-soaked clothes.

Begum had Mr Sanna’s phone in her possession after the killing but called it on 24, 25 and 26 June.

When quizzed by police following her arrest on June 28, she said she had not seen or spoken to Mr Sanna in months.

Prosecutor Duncan Penny QC said Mr Sanna’s mobile was found inside the pocket of a grey hoodie found in Begum’s wardrobe alongside some hair extensions.

Police also discovered that Begum had used the phone to change Mr Sanna’s Instagram username – from Pieztek to Sarah654ty – and profile picture.

Mr Penny said this was an attempt to ‘scrub out’ the 23-year-old digitally, as well as physically, after the stabbing.

A black ladies left-hand leather glove was recovered from a bin on the first-floor bathroom in her home bearing damage to the undersides of the fingers.

An expert was able to determine that a 3cm slash which penetrated the fabric lining matched the location of Begum’s cut.

Begum claimed Mr Sanna had bombarded her with prank calls after they broke up and invited her to his house that morning to ‘talk about the relationship.

She insisted he threatened her with a kitchen knife when she grabbed his phone to look for evidence he was unfaithful.

Begum, of Byng Street, Millwall, Isle of Dogs, denied but was convicted of murder. She was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 20 years.
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