Man with history of abusing partners jailed for beating girlfriend to death

A man with a history of violence against women has been jailed for life after he punched, kicked and stamped on his partner, before going to bed and leaving her to die.

Raj Sidpara, 50 and his partner Tarnjeet Riaz, 44, had been living together for five months in Leicester and had been on a night out together on May 5.

Once they were home, Sidpara ‘beat and kicked and stamped’ his partner to death in the ‘confined space’ of his bedroom.

Leicester Crown Court heard how he then took off his ‘bloody shoes’, went to bed next to where Ms Riaz lay injured and fell asleep.

He phoned emergency services the next day and was told to perform CPR which was unsuccessful because Ms Riaz was ‘already cold and stiff’.

He claimed that Ms Riaz had suffered her injuries from falling over drunk.

Ms Riaz’s brother, Balraj Chagger, called her the ‘soul’ of their family, in a written tribute read out in court.

The statement said: ‘We will never know how this disgusting man took enjoyment from doing this to people and to Tarnjeet.

‘If it was not Tarnjeet, it would have been someone else. This man took pleasure hurting someone weaker than himself, a vulnerable woman, one of many he has hurt before.

‘His actions are vile, inexcusable, and utterly lacking in remorse. She was ripped away from us in a way so violent we cannot begin to understand.’

His previous convictions show that he has an ‘established pattern of domestic violence’, including threats to kill a former partner and battery.

Ms Riaz suffered 64 injuries to her face, head and chest, including bruising, a brain injury, and 20 rib fractures.

Prosecutor Steven Bailey said Sidpara caused his partner’s lip ‘not just to be split but to be torn away from the jaw’.

Sidpara has been diagnosed with alcohol dependence since the murder.

Defence barrister Sarah Vine KC said: ‘It was quite clearly his excessive intoxication… which proved to be the gateway to this level of violence.’

Judge William Harbage KC told the court: ‘I accept, on balance, his intention was to cause really serious harm, not to kill, and there is a lack of premeditation. He clearly has a number of difficulties but I’m not satisfied they lessen his degree of culpability or responsibility.

‘The evidence does not suggest he was blind drunk. The evidence in the trial was that he was capable of driving home.’

Addressing Sidpara, he said: ‘You have hidden, I am sure, behind a false claim of having no memory of the incident. You attacked her in a savage and merciless way.

‘Your conspicuous lack of remorse at any stage is quite remarkable.

‘Taz was visibly intoxicated and unsteady on her feet. It is clear from the evidence, not least you blowing smoke from your vape into her face, that you were irritated by her drunkenness.

‘She must have suffered real physical pain before she died. She died at the hands of her partner – someone she should have been able to trust.’

Sidpara admitted manslaughter but was convicted of the more serious charge of murder and was handed a minimum term of 21 years in jail.

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