An evil predator has been jailed at the Old Bailey for life for the murder of 45-year-old Maria Rawlings who had been walking alone.
The mum-of-two was strangled and attacked with a wooden stick embedded with nails and a knife, then left naked in undergrowth in Romford, east London, in May last year.
Labourer Valentin Lazar, 21, who pleaded guilty to her murder, was branded evil by the victim's family as he was sentenced at the Old Bailey today.
Judge Mark Lucraft QC sentenced Lazar to life in jail with a minimum term of 23 years and six months.
He said: "This murder involved an intoxicated woman alone late at night and she was particularly vulnerable.
"This was a savage and sustained attack and a high degree of pain and suffering was inflicted prior to death."
The court previously heard that Ms Rawlings, suffered 13 fractures during the brutal attack, and was followed off a bus and targeted by Lazar because she was a vulnerable woman alone at night, it was alleged.
Police tracked the victim's movements from CCTV retrieved from the night before.
Having visited an Accident and Emergency department, Ms Rawlings, from Chelmsford, Essex, was with Mr Lazar in the Little Heath area at around 11.15pm.
In footage, he appeared to guide her towards the area where her body was found the next day.
Thirty minutes later he emerged from the undergrowth alone carrying her handbag, the court had heard.
A baseball cap with the defendant's DNA on it was left near to the body.
On his arrest, officers found clothes matching those of the attacker with traces of blood on them.
Ms Rawlings had suffered multiple injures but there was no evidence of sexual assault.
Injuries included compression to the chest and a suspected stab wound.
Then 20-year-old Lazar was charged with her murder just a few days after the attack.
At an earlier hearing, the prosecutor Paul Jarvis had said: "He was probably carrying a knife.
"He led her into the bushes before violently attacking her and ultimately killing her before stealing some of her belongings and walking off."
Tributes were placed at the scene of the mum's brutal death, with one bouquet reading: "Mummy. I love you now, forever and always. In this s*** world you made things brighter."
A message from her grandsons read: "Nanny, we love you soo much, we will never forget you. Your boys".
