Man, 41, jailed for life after crushing 19-year-old girlfriend to death with his van

A jealous boyfriend who murdered his girlfriend by crushing her against a lamppost after she had visited her baby by another man in hospital, has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 20 years. Mohammed Azim used his Mercedes Sprinter truck as a weapon to pin 19-year-old Lily Whitehouse against a lamppost during an argument on his 41st birthday on November 5 last year, just months after she gave birth to a premature baby who was being cared for in intensive care. Jurors took less than six hours to find Mohammed Azim guilty by a majority of 10 to two of murder on Friday after a two-week trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court.

Passing sentence on Monday, Judge Mr Justice Murray said: "Your decision to kill Lily was spontaneous, but you would have been aware she had a five-week-old baby still in hospital. The baby has lost her mother forever at the very beginning of her life.

"Although Lily was not particularly vulnerable... she was a psychologically vulnerable young woman given her troubled background.

"She was very needy and dependent on you as you well knew."

He added: "It must have been apparent at the moment you drove your heavy truck at her, there was a substantial risk you could kill her by doing so.

"I cannot be sure you formed an intention to kill Lily when you hit her with your truck.

"I sentence on a basis that you intention was to cause her really serious harm."

The trial heard that Azim collected Ms Whitehouse from the bus stop in his recovery truck after she had spent the evening visiting her newborn baby in the neonatal intensive care unit at Russells Hall Hospital, Dudley.

However, instead of driving her to her home in Oldbury, he drove past the address and drove to a different location on Old Park Lane, Dudley where she managed to escape the vehicle.

But the killer was captured on CCTV pursuing her in his vehicle before he ruthlessly rammed into her at speed. After causing catastrophic injuries, Azim then hauled the dying teen into his cab and then called 999, falsely claiming she had been hit by a passing vehicle. Azim then drove to Park Street where he removed her from the cab and placed her on the pavement while still on the call to emergency services.