‘She locked herself in bedroom as flat burned’
A deliver driver accused of stabbing his wife to death before burning her body told a neighbour she had locked herself in her bedroom as the flat burned, a court heard.
Amidu Koroma, 48, set his own beard on fire when he tried to dispose of the body of nurse Mariam Kamara, 46, in the early hours of 24 January 2022, jurors heard.
Firefighters were called to the scene as Koroma escaped the house with a 17-year-old 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 and a store of petrol kept in the loft, a court heard.
Koroma had suffered burns to his foot and beard and still smelt of petrol when he was questioned by police.
Post-mortem results showed that 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.
Neighbour Marlene Rangasammy told the Old Bailey today: ‘I heard noises I thought was coming from next door.
‘I went to my daughter’s room to see if someone was trying to break in next door.
‘Then I heard noises upstairs from my mum’s bedroom and I thought she must have fallen down.
‘I went upstairs knocked on my mum’s bedroom door and asked her is she was okay and she said she way okay.
‘When I was upstairs speaking with mum the doorbell rang. I looked out of the window to see who it was and it was the defendant outside.
‘He was outside on the phone and he said “fire, fire” and at that point I told my Mum to put some clothes.’
She said she asked Koroma where Ms Kamara was and he said she was upstairs and had locked the bedroom door.
‘He said she was in the bedroom upstairs and he tried to unlock the door but he couldn’t get in to open the door.’
She said Ms Kamara had many hairstyles because she would wear different wigs.
Adam Spawson-Rice, who lived in the basement flat, said he heard the fire alarm at around 3.30am but went back to bed because he assumed it was someone making food.
He then heard running around ‘shuffling steps’ and ‘furniture being moved’ in the 17-year-olds room above.
Ms Rangasammy then called and told him to leave the flat because there was a fire.
He went to the flat door to find the Fire Brigade trying to break it down to access the gas box which was in his porch.
He said he had seen Mrs Kamara the day before and she seemed in a ‘normal mood.’
Ms Kamara’s brother Osman Savage told the court that his sister and Koroma had been together for 20 years.
He said Koroma would sometimes leave the family home and have other relationships, and once left for two or three years and had another child.
He said the relationship was ‘okay’ but they would have arguments about ‘basic things’.
He said Mrs Kamara’s work as a community nurse was important to her.
‘She was a very bright, clever lady, very clever. She took it very seriously.’
One of her legs was shorter than the other so she would walk with a slight limp, he said.
She was a good but strict parent, he said.
He said that on the morning of fire the 17-year-old rang him and said there had been a fire
‘He said dad is out but he hadn’t seen mum.
‘He said he wasn’t sure if she’d returned that night but most likely she was still in the bedroom.’
Mr Savage said he did not believe his sister would have put up with abuse from her partner.
‘She was a very intelligent woman – if she feel threatened she would go to authorities or call the police.’
Mr Kamara, originally from Sierra Leone, had run a charity in her homeland.
Koroma, also from Sierra Leone, denies murder.
The trial continues.
ends
