Life jail sentence awaits a UK-based Nigerian man, Olubunmi Abodunde who beat his wife, Taiwo, to death with their son’s skateboard, in April last year. Olubunmi and the late Taiwo who had three children, had arrived in the UK from Nigeria a year before the incident and reports said they always clashed over alleged affairs and arguments about bills. A year after his arrest, Olubunmi has now accepted guilt for his action and ready to face the consequences. He remained remanded in custody and will be sentenced on May 9.
Daily mail reported that 48-year-old Abodunde had been repeatedly investigated by Suffolk Police about domestic violence and was due to go on trial for murder but changed his plea to guilty on Wednesday after a jury had been sworn in. However, Judge Martyn Levett, sitting at Ipswich Crown Court, warned him the only possible sentence was life imprisonment.
Abodunde had a history of jealousy and suspicion and accused his wife of having affairs. He had been investigated by police a number of times over alleged domestic violence incidents before his wife’s death.
He was arrested on April 27 last year when police arrived at the couple’s home in Newmarket, Suffolk, and found Mrs Abodunde with a split lip.
Later that day, he was freed on police bail with the condition that he stayed away from the marital home and didn’t approach his wife.
But after working a night shift at Tesco, he went home just after 9 am to allegedly pick up his mobile phone. Two officers arrived at 9.20 am to take a statement from Mrs Abodunde about the previous night’s incident and heard repeated banging noises inside. But it wasn’t until 9.55 am that they forced their way in after getting approval from senior officers and found Mrs Abodunde ‘obviously dead’ near the front door.
A post-mortem examination later showed she had been throttled until she fell unconscious, then stamped on until her ribs were broken before her husband used the skateboard to finish her off. The blows were so violent that the skateboard was damaged. Prosecutor Simon Spence KC told the court the banging officers heard was likely to have been Abodunde continuing to attack his wife after she was unconscious or dead.
Mrs Abodunde had a job as a care home assistant in Cambridge, but her husband, who had trained as a civil engineer, was unable to find work in his profession and took shifts at Tesco and Wickes.
After his arrest for the murder, Abodunde was taken to hospital “because he appeared to have some sort of mental episode”. He later claimed in a police statement he had acted in self-defence, saying, “My wife has subjected me to physical abuse for a number of years.
His lawyer, Nneka Akudolu KC, defending said the level of violence was ‘completely out of character’ for her client and might have been affected by medication he was taking. But she said no medical evidence would be provided to support this claim.
Detective Inspector Dan Connick, of Suffolk Police, said after the hearing, “This was an awful attack on a woman that has had a lasting impact on the community and, most importantly, on the victim’s family. We are pleased that Taiwo’s family will no longer have to go through the pain of a trial. Our thoughts remain with Taiwo’s family and friends and hope this result will bring some small comfort to them.’
Taiwo Abodunde worked for Cambridge Manor Care Home, which provides dementia care and residential and respite care.