Romanian killer, 23, who murdered 45-year-old grandmother with a wooden club ... trends now
A Romanian labourer who murdered a grandmother after following her off a bus has had his sentenced increased by five years after he admitted raping her.
Valentin Lazar attacked 45-year-old Maria Rawlings with a wooden club embedded with nails and a knife before leaving her dying in undergrowth in Romford, east London, in May 2021.
CCTV captured Lazar exiting the bus with the mother-of-two before guiding her towards some bushes where he stripped, battered and strangled her.
A post-mortem revealed she had been killed following compression to her neck. She also had injuries to her mouth, chest and knee as well as 15 fractured ribs, and was found with more than 100 marks on her body.
At the time there was no evidence of rape but Lazar admitted this to a probation officer in prison saying he thought ‘there’s a woman there, I should have sex with her.’
Valentin Lazar attacked 45-year-old Maria Rawlings with a wooden club embedded with nails and raped her in undergrowth near a bus stop in Romford, east London, in May 2021
Mrs Rawlings (pictured above), 45, from Chelmsford, Essex, was found dead in Little Heath, Romford, by a man who was walking his dog in May
Ms Rawlings, pictured, suffered injuries to her mouth, chest and knee as well as 15 fractured ribs following a 30 minute violent attack by the then 20-year-old
After the 30 minute attack Lazar ran away with her white handbag to make it look like a robbery.
Police found her purse, footwear and bank cards, nearby.
Lazar, who was 20 at the time of the attack, was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 23 years and six months in February 2022 after he admitted murder.
At the time the killer's lawyer said she could not provide an explanation or motive for his savage attack but he later admitted to wanting to rape the defenceless grandmother.
He was given a consecutive five year sentence to run at the end of his minimum term.
Judge Mark Lucraft, KC, the Recorder of London, said it was a ‘vicious and sustained attack.’
Ms Rawling’s father Tony Rawlings said in a victim impact statement: ‘Your 15 minutes of anger towards a defenceless grandmother has caused me and my family a lifetime of pain.’
Her daughter Charlee Rawlings said she was a ‘fun loving soul who would never cause harm to anyone.’
Lazar appeared at the Old Bailey today via video link from HMP Frankland wearing a grey tracksuit.
Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones said: ‘The position is that although the body was found naked there was no positive evidence there was any sexual motive to the attack.
‘And then, whilst in HMP Belmarsh Mr Lazar was interviewed for a risk assessment within custody and within that he made admissions which bring about the current charge.
‘The defendant was interviewed in custody via an interpreter by a probation officer and during that interview he admitted that at the time of the murder he had also raped her.
He told the probation officer: ‘I pushed her to the ground and at that very moment I wanted to have sex with her when she was down.
‘I saw she was trying to cry out for help so I slapped her in the face.
‘I took off her blouse and left her naked because I wanted to have sex with her.’
The officer asked why he did not have sex with her.
He replied: ‘Okay I had sex with her, but no-one knows this before this is the first time I’m
