Hayes murder accused 'bludgeoned ex-girlfriend with hammer'

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-50476285

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A man bludgeoned his ex-girlfriend to death with a claw hammer after receiving a text from her to say they could "only ever be friends", a court has heard.

Amateur boxer Sandra Zmijan was found dead in Wojciech Tadewicz's back garden in Whittington Avenue, Hayes, west London, on 21 September 2018 .

The mother was hit over the head by him in a fit of "jealousy and uninhibited anger", the Old Bailey was told.

Mr Tadewicz, 27, denies murder.

His trial has heard he tried to take his own life "in remorse" and was taken to hospital.

Three days later police discovered the mother-of-two's body in the garden after she was reported missing.

'Repeated blows'

Officers also found a bloody claw hammer and bloodstained jeans, with DNA linking the defendant to the killing, the court has heard.

Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson QC said: "He became angry and attacked her, raining down repeated blows from the hammer on her.

"The jealousy and uninhibited anger in a man capable of violence to a women who did not wish to be in a relationship with him provides the explanation for her murder."

The day before the attack, Ms Zmijan sent a text to the defendant to say they could "only ever be friends", the jury was told.

The following day she travelled to his home to collect his ticket to a boxing tournament she was due to compete in.

Mr Atkinson said Mr Tadewicz claimed to have no memory of the events after smoking cannabis on 20 September last year.

The jury was told it may have to decide whether the defendant was suffering from an "abnormality" of mental function, diminishing his responsibility for the killing.

The trial continues.