Christening party murderer sentenced to life

LONDON, Feb 14 (Reuters) A teenager who shot dead a woman cradling a baby and murdered again two weeks later was jailed for a minimum of 30 years today.

Roberto Malasi, 18, was sentenced at the Old Bailey for shooting dead a cowering woman as she cradled the baby at a christening party in south London.

Two weeks later he dragged an 18-year-old woman from a car and stabbed her in the heart.

Judge Mr Justice Gross said the case was ''chilling'' and would have merited a longer term had Malasi been an adult -- he was 16 at the time of the murders.

Malasi, who came to Britain from Angola as a child, was part of a heavily armed masked gang intent on ''extreme violence'' as they carried out an audacious robbery at the christening in a community hall in Peckham in August 2005.

About 100 guests, including some very young children, had been at the party when the gang burst in and began taking their valuables.

One of the gang fired a sawn-off shotgun into the ceiling of the hall while Malasi shot Zainab Kalokoh, 33, in the head with a handgun.

She collapsed to the floor still holding the baby in her arms.

The child was covered in blood but otherwise unharmed as Kalokoh lay dying from her wounds.

Three other teenagers, Timy Babamuboni, aged 15, his 17-year-old brother Diamond, and Jude Odigie, 16, were cleared of murder but convicted of Kalokoh's manslaughter.

They were each sentenced to 16 years detention.

''The horror and enormity of this case suggests to me you pose a risk to the public for a very long time,'' said the judge.

''Nothing I saw during the trial... suggests otherwise.'' '' He recommended Diamond Babamuboni be deported after it emerged the Nigerian and his brother were in Britain illegally.

He said he would have liked to order the deportation of all the gang members, but did not have the authority.

''Had it been within my power today, I would not have hesitated to conclude that the continuing presence of all of the defendants is not in the interests of this country,'' the judge said.

Two weeks after the christening raid, Malasi had stabbed to death Ruth Okechukwu, 18, in Walworth, south London, because he believed she had ''disrespected'' him.

''This killing was the more chilling if possible, following so closely from the death of Zainab Kalokoh,'' said the judge.

Okechukwu's father Ben, a church pastor, said his daughter had ''so much to offer this community and the nation.'' Speaking outside the court, he said his daughter was ''a very warm, forthright lady'' who had planned to become a sports therapist.

He said ''as a man of God'' he forgave her killer but hoped he would serve his full sentence.

Her mother Pauline said: ''Malasi has not only taken Ruth's life, he has taken my own life as well. I loved my daughter very much and she will never be forgotten.'' Reuters KD GC1954