'Jealous man out for revenge brutally stabbed ex-girlfriend to death' (photos)

                          

A man 'motivated by jealousy' and 'out for revenge' stabbed his ex-girlfriend to death just days after she made a statement in which she said she was petrified of him, a court heard.

Linah Keza, 29, was stabbed to death after David Gikawa, 39, used a key she gave him to sneak into her flat at 4.20am before launching into a 'brutal stabbing'. the Old Bailey was told.

The cause of death was given as stab wounds to the chest, the jury heard.

Gikawa, 39, denies murdering Ms Keza while she was with her young child at her flat in Leyton, east London on July 31 last year.

He used to live with Ms Keza in the flat, but that she had kicked him out the night before and was planning to change the locks, prosecutors said.

Jurors later heard from a witness how Ms Keza screamed and begged a neighbour to kick the door down as she was stabbed to death, while her young daughter shouted ‘leave my mummy alone’.

The 'systems in place failed to prevent' the death of Ms Keza, who had been in contact with both the police and social services, Peter Finnigan QC, prosecuting, told the court.

Mr Finnigan said Gikawa drove from a bar where he had been drinking with friends to Ms Keza's flat where the 'brutal stabbing' took place.

The incident was described by neighbour Gideon Bello, who told the court he went to investigate after hearing the shouts from the flat.

He told how he knocked on the door after hearing a young girl saying: 'Leave my mummy alone'.

Mr Bello said he then heard Ms Keza shouting: 'Please kick down the door, please kick down the door.'

He said: ‘[Gikawa] was holding her with his arm around her neck. I saw his hand moving around as if he was hitting her.

He then told how a blood-stained Gikawa ran away after he challenged him.

Mr Finnigan earlier said the victim wanted to start afresh and be 'free from the fear, threats and control'.

But, he said, Gikawa was 'determined to prevent it' claimed he would rather kill Ms Keza and himself than see her go out with another person.

Characterising the relationship, Mr Finnigan said: ‘He had both used and threatened violence and even death. That was his way of maintaining or controlling the relationship and to some extend he succeed.

‘Linah found it difficult to break away from him. Latterly, as his behaviour degenerated and threats became worse she took increasing action against him to leave her alone.’

Their relationship, which began after they met in 2009, had been 'turbulent from an early stage' and Gikawa had a 'darker side', the court heard.

Mr Finnigan said: 'He had in the past attacked her and beaten her.'

The jury was told about one incident when a knife was allegedly put inside Ms Keza's mouth.

Police were called but she did not want to go to court and the case was dropped, the jury heard.

Mr Finnigan said that just a few days before her death Ms Keza sought a non-molestation order from the court. He then read from the witness statement she gave.

It said Gikawa was 'very controlling' and she said she could not speak to her family because they would 'disown' her if they knew she was pregnant before being married.

Reading from the statement, Mr Finnigan said: 'I'm petrified of him. I don't want a life of violence any more. I just want to live a safe life.'

The statement also told how in April 2011 Gikawa allegedly attacked her at his home in Edmonton, north London, after she found out he had been cheating on him with another woman.

‘He pushed me on the bed, he pushed the pillow on to my head and punched the pillow several times,’ she wrote.

The jury heard that the police were called on July 29 - two days before Ms Keza's death - three times.

Mr Finnigan said that police said during a conversation with them Ms Keza alleged that Gikawa 'carries a kitchen knife that he had sharpened'.

Gikawa, of Leyton, East London, denies murder. The trial continues.