Handyman jailed for murdering customer with scissors

Stuart MaisnerSouth East
News imageKent Police Young man with short cropped hair and a ginger beard looking to camera.Kent Police
Dorin Ciorba, 29, was found guilty of murder and robbery at Maidstone Crown Court

A handyman who murdered a customer using scissors and cable ties before stealing his bank cards has been jailed for 32 years.

Dorin Ciorba killed and robbed Osaretin Oronsaye in his Dartford home in a dispute over money, Kent Police said.

The 29-year-old, from Barking, east London, visited Oronsaye's flat on 5 July before the victim's wife found him dead at the property later that day.

Det Ch Insp Neil Kimber said: "Ciorba carried out a senseless murder and truly believed he had gotten away with his crime."

Kimber added: "He arrogantly used Oronsaye's bank cards after searching online for reports of a murder and kept hold of the items he had taken from the murder scene."

A jury heard that Oronsaye, 62, brought a county court claim against Ciorba over a payment for maintenance work.

The court was told that paperwork relating to the legal claim, cable ties, Oronsaye's car keys and his bank cards were found in a search of Ciorba's home on the day of his arrest.

Watch as Dorin Ciorba, 29, is arrested on suspicion of murder

Ciorba claimed that he went to Oronsaye's flat to finish a decorating job.

Jurors heard that he had searched online for reports of a murder while police were initially treating the death as a suicide.

Ciorba was found guilty at Maidstone Crown Court on 12 February.

He will serve a concurrent 13-year sentence for robbery and will be deported on conclusion of his sentence.

Passing sentence, Justice Dias said: "Nothing the court can say or do will ever bring Oronsaye back to life or make up for his loss.

"A murder cuts short a single life, but it does not end there.

"Oronsaye was loved and valued by many – his mother, his wife, his brothers and sisters, his children.

"Without exception, they all say what a good man he was – the glue that held the family together and who was loved by all."

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