Criminology student murdered woman on beach, court told

Two women were stabbed on Bournemouth beach - one fatally - by a criminology student who spent a month planning a random murder, a court has heard.

Nasen Saadi killed Amie Gray, 34, and seriously injured 38-year-old Leanne Miles on Durley Chine Beach in Bournemouth on 24 May, Winchester Crown Court was told.

Sarah Jones KC, prosecuting, told the jury: "He seems to have wanted to know what it would be like to take life."

Mr Saadi, 20, from Croydon, denies charges of murder and attempted murder.

Ms Jones said the defendant began in April to choose a place for the attack, researching beaches in the south of England and settling on Bournemouth.

On the night of the stabbings, the two women were sitting on the sand where they lit a fire and watched the full moon, the barrister said.

She continued: "With purpose, slowly, stealthily and quietly; when he thought no-one would observe him, he hovered at the edges of the promenade, then stepped on to the sand.

"In an act horrifying in its savagery and in its randomness he stabbed them both multiple times, chasing after them as they tried to escape or divert him from the other and he continued his attack.

"He left them on the sand to bleed to death whilst he moved away and tried to disappear back into the shadows, away from the glare of the streetlights or the moonlight and back into anonymity."

Gray, a football coach from Poole, was pronounced dead at the scene. Ms Miles was taken to hospital for treatment for stab wounds to her chest and back.

The defendant may have wanted to feel powerful or make women afraid, the prosecutor said.

Ms Jones continued: "Perhaps he just couldn't bear to see people engaged in a happy normal social interaction and he decided to lash out, to hurt, to butcher."

In a video played in court, Ms Miles described how she pleaded for her life for the sake of her children.

Speaking from her hospital bed three days after the attack, she said: "I just remember we turned around, and I looked at this boy.

"He went towards me first - because I remember Amie saying: 'What are you doing? Get off her.'"

Her voice shaking with emotion, Ms Miles described how she lost sight of her friend as they fled, but heard her saying "Get off me".

She continued: "He came back on to me and he was continuously stabbing me.

"I said: 'Please stop, I've got children.' And then I think that's when he started to go, he walked away."

The court was told Mr Saadi had previously asked a lecturer at the University of Greenwich in 2023 about pleading self-defence to murder and DNA evidence.

The lecturer replied: "You're not planning a murder, are you?", the jury was told.

In March and April, Mr Saadi carried out internet searches for "deadliest knife", "machete" and "what hotels don't have CCTV", the prosecutor said.

He booked a Travelodge in Bournemouth for two nights from 21 May, spending one of the evenings watching the film The Strangers - Chapter 1, which portrays a killer with no motive, Ms Jones added.

He also booked into a nearby guesthouse on 23 May, it was heard.

He told police he could not remember his movements on the day of the attack, suggesting that he may have had a blackout, the jury was told.

At his home in Purley, where he was arrested on 28 May, police found knives, latex gloves and a balaclava, the court heard.

However, no weapon or clothing from the night of the killing has been discovered, Ms Jones said.

The defendant has pleaded guilty to refusing to give detectives access to his mobile phone, the jury was told.

The trial continues.

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