Today, a homicidal criminal who travelled from south Wales to London and attempted to behead his Polish ex-girlfriend in front of her new boyfriend was sentenced to at least 29 years in prison.
Dennis Akpomedaye, 30, attempted to decapitate Anna Jedrkowiak by stabbing her nearly 40 times in Ealing, west London, shortly after midnight, after stalking her from his residence in Newport, South Wales, in May.
Akpomedaye waited for the 21-year-old woman known as Ania to complete her shift at Las Iguanas before tailing her and a young man she was close with.
Judge Rajeev Shetty, jailing Akpomedaye at Kingston Crown Court on Wednesday, said the attack was ‘ferocious and savage’.
He said: ‘There is no mitigation here. There is no evidence of a mental disorder or disability.’
Anna Jedrkowiak’s sister referred to Akpomedaye as a ‘proper coward’ after he failed to appear at his sentencing. Katareyna Glowacka stated outside Kingston Crown Court that she believed Akpomedaye’s sentence should have been more severe, citing his ‘danger’ to society.
Speaking about his non-attendance in court, she added: ‘It just shows his true character, that he is a proper coward. He committed a crime but he is not able to face us, he’s not able to look us in the eyes. For me personally it’s really disrespectful that he killed my sister and he didn’t show any remorse. He never gave any statement why he did it, he just killed her and went about his life like nothing ever happened which is horrible.’
Ms Jedrkowiak’s mother Danuta, who lives in Poland, said in a statement read to the court: ‘He, this murderer, is still alive and will be for many more years, despite the fact he took my daughter’s life.’
She said the ‘barbaric’ way her daughter died meant her heart ‘broke with grief and despair’.
Ms Jedrkowiak’s sister, Katareyna Glowacka, 39, who lives in the UK, was tearful in court as a statement describing her ‘despair, helplessness and complete disbelief’ was read out.
She said: ‘I am also very angry. I have been robbed of the opportunity to have a sister in my life.’
Ms Glowacka, who was pregnant when her sister died, added: ‘It is heartbreaking that my little baby boy will never meet his auntie.’
She said her ‘smart, tenacious and ambitious’ sister, who was also ‘caring, kind and thoughtful’, was a gifted musician.
Jack Maskell, a 21-year-old Las Iguanas employee, was walking with Ms. Jedrkowiak when she was assassinated; the duo had become “more than just friends”
He told the court: ‘I have been left with indescribable memories that can never been erased.
‘It was dark and cruel. I will never unsee what he did to her.’
Mr. Maskell stated that witnessing the murder has left him with “significant emotional issues,” including post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.
Despite his efforts to save Ms. Jedrkowiak, he expressed regret, saying, “I will never know if I could have prevented what occurred.”
Judge Shetty advised him not to experience regret, stating that there was ‘nothing’ he could have done differently.
Addressing Ms Jedrkowiak’s family, the judge said: ‘You have been present in court for the entire trial and sentence and heard the most painful evidence of Ania’s last moments.
‘I cannot imagine the horror and upset you have experienced and I know, as has been said, that Ania’s premature death will leave a hole in your lives that can never be closed.
‘What I can say is that you have behaved with dignity. The sentence cannot do much to help you grieve or recover, save that I hope it at least completes a process of justice being done.’
Nigerian-born Akpomedaye met Ms. Jedrkowiak online in January 2021, and they dated for approximately a year until she ended the relationship.
In the weeks preceding her murder, Akpomedaye, unable to accept the breakup, began threatening suicide in an attempt to manipulate her.
Kerim Fuad KC, defending, said: ‘It is truly tragic and awful that a relationship once so full of hope and love can have come to this.
‘The photographs that the jury were shown of the defendant and Ms Jedrkowiak speak of happiness, love and hope for the future.
‘Her life was to be ended by the defendant’s act borne of rejection and jealousy.’
He told the court Akpomedaye had been ‘slowly falling down a dark hole’, living in maggot-infested ‘squalor’ and facing financial difficulty.
In the weeks before the murder he told Ms Jedrkowiak: ‘We will be together no matter what. I will find you.’
Akpomedaye was injured during the assault, and he lied about his identity twice when he sought medical attention.
He fabricated a preposterous cover story, claiming he was a swordsman whose ruse had failed.
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The murderer, however, left a blood trace leading from the crime site to a reservoir in Gunnersby Park, where he discarded the stolen items from Ania.
Metropolitan Police officers were able to apprehend him within 22 hours of Ania’s death by utilising CCTV, forensic evidence, and phone analysis.
He was apprehended at Victoria Coach Station while attempting to return to Wales.
According to the police, he has never expressed remorse for the homicide, refusing to answer officers’ inquiries or appear in court for his trial or sentencing.