A UK court has sentenced a Nigerian man living in Britain to life imprisonment for the murder of his former girlfriend in Nottinghamshire.
Adedapo Adegbola, a UK-based Nigerian national, was jailed for killing 23-year-old Stephanie Irons after she ended what the court described as a brief but controlling relationship. The sentencing took place at Nottingham Crown Court, where Adegbola was ordered to serve a minimum of 25 years in prison.
The court heard that Adegbola fatally stabbed Irons in the neck at her home in Mapperley, Nottinghamshire, on 21 October. Prosecutors said he had become obsessed with her and had carefully planned the attack after she rejected him.
During sentencing, Judge Nirmal Shant KC said Adegbola’s controlling behaviour led Irons to end the relationship and that he “was not prepared to accept that decision.”
Evidence presented in court revealed that Adegbola purchased two knives on 15 October before travelling to Irons’s home six days later. He stabbed her multiple times, with the fatal wound inflicted to her neck.
Prosecutor Peter Joyce KC told the court that Adegbola sent screenshots of sexually explicit messages from Irons’s phone to their work colleagues, likely after she had already been killed. He remained at the scene as Irons lay dying before fleeing with her phone and keys. He later disposed of his clothing and the murder weapon.
Adegbola surrendered himself to police in Hull on 22 October and pleaded guilty to murder in January.
Stephanie Irons’s mother gave a heartbreaking statement in court, describing her daughter as “compassionate and caring.” She said, “She lit up the room and could make even the saddest person smile. She wanted to make a happy and kinder world,” according to the BBC.
Detective Inspector Stuart Barson praised the family’s “incredible strength and bravery,” reading a statement on their behalf: “We have lost our beautiful daughter and shining light. She was the kindest, sweetest person anyone could meet, and our lives will never be the same.”
In a related development, Nottinghamshire Police earlier this week charged 40-year-old Mary Onolunosen with assisting an offender. She is scheduled to appear at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on 6 March.
