A double murderer has been jailed for life with 38 years minimum after killing two women and storing their bodies in a freezer.

Convicted paedophile Zahid Younis, 36, had been previously found guilty of murdering Hungarian national Henriett Szucs, 34, and mother-of-three Mihrican ‘Jan’ Mustafa, 38, at Southwark Crown Court on Thursday.

Ms Szucs had been kept inside a small padlocked chest freezer in Younis’s flat in Vandome Close, Canning Town, for two and a half years when her body was discovered on April 27 last year.

Ms Mustafa was believed to have been strangled to death by Younis days after she went missing in May 2018, and her body was also stored the same hiding place.

Younis, known as ‘Boxer’, admitted to putting the women in the freezer and pleaded guilty to two counts of preventing the lawful and decent burial of a body. He denied two counts of murder, but was found guilty of both charges by a jury.

He showed no emotion as the verdicts were read outx, but members of Ms Mustafa’s family, who had attended the court proceedings every day for the three-week trial, said ‘yes’ in the public gallery. Her older sister, Mel Mustafa, said: ‘Thank you, God, thank you.’

Ms Szucs’ mother, Maria, who was unable to attend the trial, said in a statement: ‘Henriett was a beautiful, kind young woman and nobody deserves to be killed in such brutal circumstances.’

Today Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb, jailed Younis for life with a minimum term of 38 years, warning that he may never be released.

She said: ‘It will surprise no one in this room that the defendant has declined to attend his sentence, while he sits in the cells below, but I will address these remarks to him so when he has the courage to read them he will understand why the court has reached the conclusion it has.

‘You are an arch-deceiver and you spent a lifetime destroying lives. You have preyed upon the vulnerable with superficial charm. You have been convicted by the strong prosecution case.’

She added: ‘Not only were the bodies of two women found in your home, hidden in a locked freezer purchased for that purpose, they showed signs of violence which you failed to explain.’

The judge said Younis had ‘robbed’ his victims of of ‘all happiness in life and dignity in death’, and said: ‘You have no remorse’.

She went on: ‘You are a heartless man and a narcissist. Your concern throughout has been for yourself.’

Prosecutor Duncan Penny QC told jurors at his trial that both Ms Szucs and Ms Mustafa were ‘vulnerable women living somewhat chaotic lives’, including periods of homelessness and class A drug addiction.

The court heard that Younis had bought the freezer for £169.99 and paid in cash for the ‘sole purpose’ of hiding Ms Szucs dead body.

Mr Penny said that police and gone to Younis’ flat to look for him when a uniformed officer saw flies surrounding the cupboard before prying it open with a crowbar.

Both women had suffered numerous rib fractures. Ms Szucs had also sustained ‘dreadful’ head injuries and Ms Mustafa’s sternum and larynx had been fractured.

Younis claimed that he was out when Ms Szucs died at his flat and did not contact the police because he was ‘panicking’. He also told jurors that he did not kill Ms Mustafa and did not know how she died.

He went on to explain that he paid a man to help him get Ms Szucs’ body in the freezer and his accomplice later blackmailed him into putting Ms Mustafa’s corpse in the same place.

Younis previously married a 14-year-old girl in an Islamic ceremony at a mosque in Walthamstow, East London, in 2004, the court heard.

He was jailed for two and a half years for assaulting the teenager and having unlawful sexual activity, which resulting in him being put on a sexual offenders’ register.

Younis was also later sentenced to four years and 11 months imprisonment for two counts of wounding and one of assault occasioning bodily harm following a relationship with a 17-year-old girl in 2007 after his release from jail.

Detective Chief Inspector Simon Harding, of the Met Police, said: ‘Zahid Younis is a particularly dangerous and what I would describe as a repugnant individual who preys on vulnerable women in particular and abuses them, brings them into his control and causes them significant injury.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].

For more stories like this, check our news page.

Source: Read Full Article