Man guilty of murdering deaf woman on night out

A man has been convicted of murdering a deaf woman he beat and then abandoned to die after forcing her out of an overcrowded Mercedes in east London.

A jury at the Old Bailey found Duane Owusu, of Althorne Way, Dagenham, guilty of killing 27‑year‑old Zahwa Mukhtar after almost 12 hours of deliberations.

Mukhtar had never met Owusu, 36, or his group before joining them during a night out in the early hours of 16 August 2025.

A witness described Owusu, nicknamed "Nasty", as looking "like a monster" as he brutally assaulted the victim. Owusu will be sentenced next Thursday.

Mukhtar inhaled laughing‑gas balloons with the group in Stoke Newington before they decided to return home to Dagenham, with Mukhtar also cramming into the overcrowded car.

Jurors were told that Mukhtar argued with one of Owusu's female friends, pulled her hair and made stabbing threats.

Owusu then grabbed Mukhtar's phone and threw it out of the car, in Chadwell Heath, before ejecting her as well.

He aimed two kicks at her face as she sat on the pavement and, when she stood up, punched her in the neck – a blow that proved fatal.

Witness Paige Allen described Mukhtar, a finance assistant at Young Vic Theatre, pleading with Owusu to stop as he attacked her.

Allen told jurors: "He was just rage. He looked like a monster. His behaviour was just wrong. She just fell.

"I went to help her but he screamed at me to get in the car."

When leaving the scene, Owusu and his group were stopped and searched by police a short distance from where Mukhtar was dumped.

They were detained for around 50 minutes, and shortly afterwards officers responded to reports of a woman found unresponsive in the road, at about 05:30 BST.

Owusu was heard on CCTV berating another man for wanting to turn back and help the victim, referring to him as a "weak link".

Mukhtar was pronounced dead at the scene, having suffered a fractured skull and brain injury.

Owusu denied punching Mukhtar and claimed instead that he had only pushed her away from the car to "de‑escalate" a tense situation.

He denied murder and the alternative charge of manslaughter, saying he was "traumatised" by the situation.

The trial was halted after Mukhtar's brother launched himself at the defendant, leaving jurors "extremely shaken". Owusu had entered the witness box to give evidence in his defence.

Abas Mukhtar, 28, was fined £1,000 for contempt of court.

Judge Richard Marks KC said: "It goes without saying, having seen the incident at close quarters, I was absolutely appalled by the incident."

Defence lawyer Charles McCombe apologised on behalf of Mukhtar for disrupting the court, jurors and his parents, and for "messing the trial up for his sister".

He added: "I am told he was overcome by anger as to what he was witnessing."

Marks said: "Whilst I fully understand the extent of your emotions for what happened to your sister, to behave in that way in the middle of the trial while the defendant was giving evidence is inexcusable and had potential to derail the trial."

Details of the incident can be reported now Owusu has been found guilty of murder.

Jurors were not told that Owusu was jailed for eight years in 2010 for being the getaway driver in a botched robbery in which a Matalan shop manager was stabbed to death.

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