UK man who murdered pregnant girlfriend after release from prison jailed for 42 years | UK news

The man who killed his pregnant girlfriend after being released from prison on license was sentenced to 42 years in prison.

Alana Odysseos, 32, was in the early stages of pregnancy with her third child when she was murdered by Shaine March at her home in Walthamstow, east London, last year. He died at the scene as a result of the stab wound he received after the attack on July 22, 2024.

On March 47, the woman from Surrey Quays, south-east London, confessed to her murder on the seventh day of her trial after an expert witness no longer supported her claim of diminished responsibility.

Odysseos was among the women whose deaths were included in the Guardian’s Murdered Women issue, a project highlighting the cost and tragedy of femicide in the UK. She was described as a “brilliant mother” who was “completely doting” on her daughters.

Jurors at the March trial were not told that he had previously been convicted of murder. He was 21 when he fatally stabbed 17-year-old Andre Drummond in the neck at a McDonald’s restaurant in Denmark Hill, south London, in January 2000.

He was released on a life license in early 2013 and was recalled to prison the same year after stepping on the stomach of another pregnant girlfriend in July. He was released again in February 2018.

March also had a 1995 conviction for assault and criminal damage.

The court was told Odysseos knew about his murder conviction in March and security checks were carried out by the probation service. However, when the defendant said that their relationship ended amicably, no further checks were made.

Hours before killing Odysseus, March argued with him about whether to abort her unborn child and heard the victim say: “I don’t want to kill my baby.”

On Friday, Mr Justice Murray sentenced March to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 42 years. He rejected calls from Odysseos’ family and the prosecution for a life sentence, but stated that given his age, March may never be released.

March had appeared in court via video link from Belmarsh prison after initially refusing to appear at the Old Bailey.

Karen Cronin, Odysseos’ mother, said: “My beautiful, kind and loving daughter, Alana, left this world in the most callous and cruel way imaginable.

“The person who did this to my daughter, who I think does not deserve the respect of using her name, is malicious and cowardly. Why did he have to resort to the violence he did?”

The court heard the following statements from her three sisters, including Jasmine Yates: “You killed more than one person that night. You took Alana, you took the baby she was carrying, the child she was excited about. I’m afraid if you are released, you will kill again.”

Detective Aytaç Necati, who conducted the investigation, said that March was not happy with the news that Odysseos was pregnant, and that this led to an increase in the controlling and coercive behavior Odysseos was exposed to during their short relationship.

Prosecutor Louise Oakley argued for a life sentence (meaning March would never be issued) given the “extraordinarily high” level of offending.

The court previously heard how police were alerted by members of the public who found Odysseos outside his home in Lynmouth Road, wearing a nightgown and dressing gown and holding his right side.

The woman, covered in blood from multiple stab wounds on her body, pointed at the defendant standing nearby and shouted: “Shaine stabbed me, he stabbed me too. Help, help.”