A Nigerian man, Olubunmi Abodunde, who murdered his wife, Taiwo, with a skateboard and blamed his loss of control on medication has been jailed for life in the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n
Pointblanknews.com reported that Abodunde, 48, a resident of Exning Road, in Newmarket, Suffolk killed his wife on 28 November, 2023.<\/p>\n
He admitted to killing Taiwo, who suffered \u201ccatastrophic brain injuries\u201d, the BBC reports.<\/p>\n
Ipswich Crown Court heard \u201ca degree of ferocity\u201d was involved in her death at the couple\u2019s family home in Exning Road.<\/p>\n
Abodunde must spend a minimum of 17 years in prison before he can be eligible for parole.<\/p>\n
The court heard on 27 November, the day before Mrs Abodunde\u2019s death, the couple had a domestic incident and Abodunde was arrested.<\/p>\n
As part of bail conditions, he had been ordered not to contact his spouse.<\/p>\n
The following morning, Abodunde travelled to the family home to retrieve a mobile phone at about 09:00 BST, the court heard.<\/p>\n
Mrs Abodunde, a mother of three, had been working overnight as a health care assistant and had been on her way back home.<\/p>\n
Prosecutor Stephen Spence KC told the court Abodunde was aware of his wife\u2019s shift pattern and CCTV showed she had arrived back at about 09:12.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnly the defendant now knows what happened,\u201d Mr Spence added.<\/p>\n
The court was told two officers had attended the property at about 09:20 to speak with Mrs Abodunde about the previous day\u2019s domestic incident.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe officers repeatedly knocked on the door and notified them of their presence but got no response or heard any calls for help,\u201d Mr Spence told the court.<\/p>\n
However between 40 and 50 \u201cthuds\u201d had been heard, believed to be Abodunde attacking his wife.<\/p>\n
Officers were given clearance by senior police officials to enter the property at 09:45, the court was told.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen they entered the front door, they immediately found the lifeless body of Mrs Abodunde with her skull smashed in,\u201d Mr Spence said.<\/p>\n
A postmortem examination found Mrs Abodunde had suffered \u201ccatastrophic brain injuries\u201d.<\/p>\n
She also had injuries that were consistent with her body being \u201cstamped on\u201d as well as being hit with a skateboard.<\/p>\n
This had been found at the property covered in blood and fragments of skull. The court was told the victim had also been strangled.<\/p>\n
As Mr Spence addressed the court, the defendant could be heard sobbing from the dock.<\/p>\n
Police forced their way into the home after hearing bangs.<\/p>\n
She said this medication led him to \u201ccompletely lose control with tragic and lifelong consequences for those who loved\u201d Ms Akudolu.<\/p>\n
Ibuprofen, vitamins and steroids were found in Abodunde\u2019s blood following the incident, the court was told.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhilst it does appear that medication was taken, there would be no medical evidence to support that he was medicated with anything that would excuse or cause him to act in the way that he did,\u201d Mr Spence said.<\/p>\n
During mitigation, Judge Martyn Levett said it was also \u201csurprising\u201d why Abodunde had taken 30 minutes to find the mobile phone once in the house.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt seems to me that he was waiting for confrontation,\u201d he told the court. \u201cThere is no debate that there was not going to be confrontation in my view.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Akudolu said Abodunde \u201cwas a very well-respected man\u201d both here in the UK and in Nigeria where the couple had previously moved from.<\/p>\n
He had been a local councillor in Nigeria and had a local street in the country named after him.<\/p>\n
The court heard the couple had a \u201chistory of frequent disputes over bills and money\u201d with some \u201clow-level violence\u201d involved.<\/p>\n
Ms Akudolu told the court that \u201cnot a day will go by that [Abodunde] does not regret the misery\u201d that he has caused.<\/p>\n
\u2018No remorse\u2019
\nIn his sentencing remarks Judge Levett described Mrs Abodunde\u2019s killing as \u201cruthless, violent, savage and heartless\u201d.<\/p>\n
He told the court Abodunde had lied to officers telling them his wife had attempted to attack him with a knife the day before he murdered her.<\/p>\n
Abodunde also claimed she had tried to beat him, but no evidence was found to substantiate this, the court was told.<\/p>\n
As Judge Levett spoke, Abodunde could be seen from the dock with his head in his hands while sobbing.<\/p>\n
Judge Levett said there had been \u201cno self-defence at all\u201d on Abodunde\u2019s part and he had heard \u201cno remorse other than sobs from the dock\u201d.<\/p>\n
Following the murder, Suffolk Police referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) due to previous contact with the couple.<\/p>\n
It said earlier this month, two officers were advised they were being investigated for gross misconduct over potential breaches of the standards of professional behaviour.<\/p>\n
Another officer is under investigation for breaches amounting to misconduct.<\/p>\n
An IOPC spokesman said: \u201cThis does not mean disciplinary proceedings will necessarily follow. Our investigation remains ongoing.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A Nigerian man, Olubunmi Abodunde, who murdered his wife, Taiwo, with a skateboard and blamed his loss of control on medication has been jailed for life in the United Kingdom.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":111905,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-111904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other-news"],"yoast_head":"\n