Thug 'mercilessly' beat girlfriend then got into bed with her and fell asleep as she died

Raj Sidpara, 50, murdered his 44-year-old woman Tarnjeet Riaz aft a nighttime out, inflicting 64 injuries to her face, caput and thorax including a encephalon wounded during his 'savage' attack

A vile thug launched a "savage and merciless" attack on his woman earlier getting into furniture and falling dormant arsenic she laic dying alongside him.

Raj Sidpara murdered Tarnjeet Riaz successful the chamber of his location successful Leicester after a nighttime retired unneurotic earlier this year. Leicester Crown Court heard that Ms Riaz, besides known by her maiden sanction Chagger, suffered 64 injuries to her face, caput and chest, including bruising, a encephalon wounded and 20 rib fractures. Prosecutor Steven Bailey antecedently told the assemblage that Sidpara's savagery near her articulator "torn distant from the jaw". The 50-year-old had claimed Ms Riaz, 44, was drunk and had injured herself falling over.

Sidpara admitted manslaughter earlier trial, but the assemblage convicted him of the much superior complaint of murder earlier this month. On Friday, Judge William Harbage KC handed him a mandatory beingness condemnation with a minimum word of 21 years down bars.

The justice told Sidpara: "You person hidden, I americium sure, down a mendacious assertion of having nary representation of the incident. You attacked her successful a savage and merciless way. Your conspicuous deficiency of remorse astatine immoderate signifier is rather remarkable."

The couple, who had been unneurotic for 5 months, had been connected a nighttime retired unneurotic connected Sunday, May 5 anterior to Sidpara's attack. They near a barroom successful Lewisher Road successful the eastbound of the city, astatine astir 11pm, and Ms Riaz was "unsteady connected her feet" erstwhile Sidpara drove them home, the assemblage had heard.

Once home, Sidpara "beat and kicked and stamped" connected Ms Riaz successful his bedroom. He past took disconnected his "bloody shoes" and got into furniture and fell dormant adjacent to wherever Ms Riaz, known arsenic Taz, laic dormant oregon dying.

The adjacent day, helium dialled 999 and was told to execute CPR - but by this clip Ms Riaz was already dead, the tribunal heard. The tribunal was told of Sidpara's erstwhile convictions, and his grounds showed that helium had an "established pattern" of home abuse, including unit and making threats to termination a erstwhile partner.

In a connection work to the tribunal during Friday's hearing, Ms Riaz's member Balraj Chagger said his sister had been the "soul" of their family. He added: "We volition ne'er cognize however this disgusting antheral took enjoyment from doing this to radical and to Tarnjeet.

"If it was not Tarnjeet, it would person been idiosyncratic else. This antheral took pleasance hurting idiosyncratic weaker than himself, a susceptible woman, 1 of galore helium has wounded before. His actions are vile, inexcusable, and utterly lacking successful remorse. She was ripped distant from america successful a mode truthful convulsive we cannot statesman to understand."

The tribunal heard that Sidpara has been diagnosed with intoxicant dependence. His barrister, Sarah Vine KC, said: "It was rather intelligibly his excessive intoxication... which proved to beryllium the gateway to this level of violence."

The justice told the court: "I accept, connected balance, his volition was to origin truly superior harm, not to kill, and determination is simply a deficiency of premeditation. He intelligibly has a fig of difficulties, but I'm not satisfied they lessen his grade of culpability oregon responsibility. The grounds does not suggest helium was unsighted drunk. The grounds successful the proceedings was that helium was susceptible of driving home."

Addressing Sidpara, the justice said: "Taz was visibly intoxicated and unsteady connected her feet. It is wide from the evidence, not slightest you blowing fume from your vape into her face, that you were irritated by her drunkenness. She indispensable person suffered existent carnal symptom earlier she died. She died astatine the hands of her spouse – idiosyncratic she should person been capable to trust."