Asylum seeker strangled British girlfriend, 17, after learning he was to be deported

Cheryl Tariah, 17, who was beaten with a hammer then strangled by failed asylum seeker Ako Amin

A failed asylum seeker who strangled his British girlfriend to death after learning he was to be deported was jailed for at least ten-and-a-half years today.

Ako Amin, 19, flew into a rage and battered 17-year-old Cheryl Tariah with a hammer after she showed up at his hostel bedroom unexpectedly.

He then grasped his hands around her neck, choking her to death in a ‘prolonged’ attack, the Old Bailey heard.

After covering his victim’s body with a duvet, Amin casually strolled to a nearby library, where he bragged to a friend: ‘The hammer didn’t do it - I had to strangle her.’

Iranian-born Amin, who had originally claimed asylum in the UK in 2008, then tried to flee the country and was discovered clinging to the bottom of a lorry at Dover three days later.

Judge Richards Marks QC told him his ‘wicked act’ had deprived Cheryl’s mother - whose husband died in 2010 - of a loving daughter’s ‘comfort and support’.

‘This is a shocking incident in which a young woman has lost her life and the consequences for Cheryl Tariah’s mother can only be imagined,’ he said.

‘She lost her husband in 2010 and is left by herself to look after a severely autistic son.

‘No doubt Cheryl would have been a great comfort and support to her in that task.

‘She now no longer has that comfort and support through your selfish and wicked behaviour - for there is no other way to describe it.

‘I hope you ponder for the rest of your life what you did that day, for it was shocking, appalling and unforgiveable.’

Amin, whose family were involved in politics in their homeland, fled to the UK in December 2008 after his brother was murdered.

He applied for asylum, but was rejected and he had exhausted the appeals process the day before the killing on February 7 this year.

‘It may give the court some insight into his state of mind the following day when he was to kill Miss Tariah,’ said prosecutor Sarah Whitehouse.

Cheryl, who lived in Tottenham, north London, and was studying art at Chelmsford College in Essex, had been in an ‘on-off’ relationship with her killer for around a year.

‘I hope you ponder for the rest of your life what you did that day, for it was shocking, appalling and unforgiveable’

Judge Richards Marks QC, sentencing Amin at the Old Bailey

But she often found him to be possessive, jealous and controlling. ‘He refused to let her talk to other boys or let her go to parties,’ said Mrs Whitehouse.

‘It was said he hacked into her Facebook and email accounts and changed to password to stop her sending messages.’

She went to Amin’s bedroom in a hostel above the Buy Labels for Less store on High Street, Barkingside, east London, at around 12pm.

A neighbour overheard Amin shouting out other men’s names, before Cheryl told him: ‘Don’t hurt me, leave me alone and get off me.’

The shouts were followed by screams and choking that could be heard through an open window in the street below.

The Old Bailey: The judge told Amin his 'wicked act' had deprived Cheryl's mother - whose husband died in 2010 - of her daughter's 'comfort and support'

Amin then walked calmly to a nearby library, where he asked a friend to dispose of the body. When he refused, the killer tried to flee the country.

When he was picked up at Dover on February 10 he confessed to police, but claimed his victim had confessed she had been unfaithful to him.

‘I lost it,’ he said. ‘I lose it easily. I smashed my TV up one or two weeks ago with my violent temper.’

A search of Amin’s bedroom revealed a black-handled hammer concealed in a black bin bag.

Jason Dunn-Shaw, defending, said: ‘He destroyed a young and innocent life and nothing can be done about that.

‘He will always live with that memory, the horror or what he has done.

‘He appreciates these feelings will never approach the intensity of the feelings of her family and friends.’


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