UK court sentences Nigerian man to life imprisonment for wife’s murder
A heart-wrenching incident unfolded in the UK when Conrad Irabor Martin Iyayi, a Nigerian man, was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of his wife, Katy Harris.
On February 6, 2022, the 46-year-old fatally stabbed Katy seven times in the chest at their residence in Oak Crescent, Littleover, Derby.
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Disturbingly, Iyayi contacted the police that fateful morning, confessing to the call handler that he had taken his wife’s life.
During his arrest, he claimed he couldn’t recall the events following the consumption of drugs he had acquired from the dark web.
Initially denying the charge when he appeared in court on February 8, Iyayi accepted his guilt just two days into his trial at Derby Crown Court.
On August 18, 2023, he was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 18 years before he can be considered for release.
Detective Inspector Steve Shaw said, “Katy Harris was a much-loved mother, daughter, friend, and teacher. Her death was a tragic loss of life for her loved ones, as well as the hundreds of students whose lives she had touched through her work as a teacher.
“Our thoughts today are with Katy’s family, particularly her three children, whom she loved dearly. Their dignity and support for this investigation have been exemplary, and I cannot thank them enough for the way they have conducted themselves throughout this incredibly difficult 18 months.
“Conrad Iyayi deprived Katy of what should have been a long and happy life with her family and friends and has provided no credible explanation for what happened in that house on the night in question.
“I hope that seeing Iyayi behind bars will give all those affected the space to now start rebuilding their lives and allow them to focus on the memories of Katy – who will live on in the hearts of all who knew her.”
The court heard that Ms. Harris worked as an art teacher at St. Clare’s School in Mickleover and had probably been sleeping in the spare room of the house due to her husband’s snoring, with the couple’s 11-year-old son also at home in his bedroom.
Gordon Aspden KC, prosecuting, said the son had described the evening as “entirely normal” when interviewed by the police. Iyayi watched Match of the Day with his son on the night of February 5, and CCTV from a neighbor showed him walking his dog just before 03:00 GMT the following morning.
The coat he was seen wearing on the CCTV footage showed bloodstains, later found to contain his wife’s DNA, which the court heard suggested the attack happened before then.
Later that morning, the defendant called the police from a nearby payphone, saying he believed he had killed his wife. Police found her body in a pool of blood in the kitchen.
She was pronounced dead at the scene, and after Iyayi was arrested, police woke their son and took him away from the home.
Mr. Aspden said a post-mortem examination found Ms. Harris died from stab wounds to her chest, while cuts to her hand suggested she was “literally fighting for her life” during part of the attack.
Mr. Aspden said: “He [Iyayi] made a number of unsolicited comments concerning Katy’s death. He said it all felt like a dream and the situation, in his words, was ‘crazy.’ His demeanor was remarkably calm and controlled given the dreadful circumstances of what had happened. He said Iyayi had given a “demonstrably untrue” account to police that the methadone he had bought off the dark web had an unanticipated effect, that led him to believe he had taken a “mind-altering” hallucinogenic and had murdered his wife in a dream, only to discover her body hours later. But later tests showed Iyayi had taken prescription methadone, as well as prescribed anti-depressants and painkillers, rather than an unknown substance as he had claimed. The defendant had “a substantial number of previous convictions for a wide variety of offences”.
In a victim impact statement, the couple’s son said he wanted nothing to do with his father.
“He’s taken the most important person from me,” the statement said. “It’s really upsetting that I won’t get to make any more memories with my mum.”
Ms. Harris’ adult daughter Phoebe Harris, who read out a statement on behalf of her and her sister Alexa, said their mother’s murder had left them “devastated and traumatized” and thanked people for supporting the family.
“We don’t see him as a human being as anyone with any humanity could not take someone else’s life in the way that he did,” she said.
“He is sinister, sadistic, and manipulative. We feel betrayed. We cannot comprehend how one person has affected so many people’s lives. Our mum was the light in the lives of so many people, whereas he encapsulates darkness.”
Iyayi’s barrister, Amjad Malik KC, said the defendant “destroyed a woman that he loved,” and who had supported him through addiction issues for “a reason that he cannot explain and a reason that will always haunt him.
Sentencing, Judge Shaun Smith KC said Ms. Harris “would have been conscious for at least part of the attack,” adding Iyayi had written to him accepting responsibility and saying he did not know why the murder happened.
“It was a brutal, frenzied killing, and a needless death,” he said. “What you did in the early hours of that morning ended the life of a much-loved woman and emptied the lives of many others.”
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