Homeless man guilty of murdering woman in her flat

A homeless man accused of battering a west London woman to death with a mallet days after she took him in has pleaded guilty to her murder.

Victoria Adams, 37, was found dead at her Hammersmith flat on 9 February after police were called to a report of a man attempting to break into a property in Coulter Road.

Apapale Adoum, 39, who was arrested at the scene, had met her on 6 February when he was living in a homeless shelter.

Ms Adams was found face down in a bedroom with a bin bag over her head which was covered by a pillow. She had suffered at least 10 injuries to the back and side of her head from being struck with a blunt object, said to be a mallet found with her blood and DNA on it.

She had invited Adoum to stay with her but later wrote a note to ask him to leave.

At the Old Bailey, Judge Nigel Lickley KC told the defendant: "The sentence for murder is a life sentence and that is what I will pass on 24 October."

Adoum was remanded into custody.

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