A drug addict who strangled his friend and then stole a television to sell it for £15 has been sentenced to life in prison.
Salieu Seray-Wurie, 26, will spend at least 19 years behind bars for the murder of Darren Ammon at his flat in Shoreditch, east London, last October.
The court heard Mr Ammon, 47, had allowed Seray-Wurie, a Class A addict, to stay at his flat, but on the day of the murder he called the police because he wanted him to leave.
Acting “in a rage”, Seray-Wurie returned later to retrieve his bank card.
He used a cord to strangle Mr Ammon while he pleaded for his life.
After leaving the victim under a duvet, Seray-Wurie stole his television and sold it for £15, the Old Bailey heard.
Three days later, Mr Ammon was discovered with his wrists and knees tied up, and the cord still around his neck, after concerned neighbours raised the alarm.
Seray-Wurie, who was homeless at the time, initially denied intending to seriously harm Mr Ammon but was found guilty of murder after having already admitted to manslaughter and theft.
‘He was pleading for mercy’
Sentencing him on Thursday, Judge David Aubrey KC said: “Only you know precisely what occurred in the flat but I am satisfied Mr Ammon wished you to leave.
“You were not prepared to do so because you wished in your words to ‘teach him a lesson’.
“He offered no threat to you. You intentionally put the deceased in a headlock.
“You dragged him back into the living room and then obtained that piece of cord or twine.
“You wrapped it around your hand and placed it around his neck, squeezing it tight.”
The judge continued: “You strangled him to death. I am satisfied that he was pleading for mercy saying ‘no, no’ and was begging for his life.
“You knew precisely what you were doing. You were angry and in a rage.
“I am satisfied you intended to kill him and did so in such a calculating way.”
The judge paid tribute to Mr Ammon’s loved ones in court, saying they were “broken”.
“You took a father away from his sons and a son away from his mother, and all speak of losing a loved one in the most callous of ways,” he told Seray-Wurie.
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‘You stole him from us’
Christine Ammon, the victim’s mother, described the devastating impact of her son’s death.
In her victim impact statement, she reiterated that the defendant had taken her son’s life over a bank card, saying “you stole him from us over nothing”.
She added: “We will never see him again, hear him again or get to tell him off, never get to share our lives with him again.
“I have had to be strong for my family but I am totally broken.
“We have all suffered in our own way and we know that suffering will never leave us.”
In his statement, the victim’s son, Kieran, said Mr Ammon was “everything a father should be” before telling the defendant he deserves to live the rest of his life “behind bars”.
Seray-Wurie’s lawyer mentioned the abuse he suffered and his estrangement from his family in Sierra Leone, while expressing Seray-Wurie’s “sincere apologies” to Mr Ammon’s family for the impact of his actions.
