 Overdose attempt: Gafoor wanted to die - then changed his mind |
Murderer Jeffrey Gafoor tried to kill himself when he realised police were closing in. He made a "death-bed confession" in the back of an ambulance on the way to hospital after police broke into his home to arrest him after he swallowed handfuls of paracetamol tablets.
Detectives, who had put the 38-year-old under surveillance after obtaining a DNA sample from him, were alerted when he was seen buying a large quantity of tablets.
They broke in to his home and saved his life - a life which will now be spent behind bars.
Prosecutor Patrick Harrington QC, told Cardiff Crown Court on Friday that in February this year detectives called on Gafoor where he worked as a security guard in the Newport Road area of Cardiff and asked him for a DNA sample.
They were testing members of the Gafoor family after a young relative, who was known to the police, had provided DNA which partially matched that taken from the Lynette White murder scene.
When Gafoor's DNA swab provided a complete match, police placed him under surveillance.
On February 28, the police surveillance team saw him visiting several stores where he bought a large number of paracetamol tablets.
 He stabbed Lynette White 50 times |
At 2130 GMT that day, they decided to act.
Mr Harrington said: "Police broke in to Gafoor's house where the defendant appeared ready to die.
"An ambulance was called and on the way to hospital he began to shake.
"Gafoor told officers 'just for the record I did kill Lynette White, I have been waiting for this for 15 years, I sincerely hope to die'."
Mr Harrington continued; "He was given an antidote to paracetamol poisoning and the next day he told police 'I would rather not die, I would rather face the music, but I was looking forward to death to find out if God exists, or the devil'".
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