Man jailed for 'merciless' murder of girlfriend

Tarnjeet Riaz "only wanted to be loved", her family said

A man who murdered his girlfriend when he punched, kicked and stamped on her in a "merciless" attack before going to sleep and leaving her to die has been jailed for life.

Raj Sidpara, 50, was found guilty of murdering Tarnjeet Riaz at his home in Leicester, in the early hours of 6 May, after initially telling police she had fallen over drunk.

Leicester Crown Court heard Sidpara had an "established pattern of violence", with a number of convictions for attacking previous partners.

On Friday, he was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 20 years and 162 days.

The court heard Ms Riaz - also known by her maiden name Chagger - was left with "two enormous black eyes", bleeding on the brain and 20 rib fractures, among other injuries.

Sidpara continued his attack some time after 01:50 while she was on the floor of his bedroom, lying face up and "defenceless".

Addressing Sidpara, Judge William Harbage said: "You then took your bloodied shoes off, went to bed and then slept until morning."

By then, Ms Riaz was dead.

Raj Sidpara told a 999 call handler his partner had fallen over drunk after he had murdered her

Sidpara had called 999 at about lunchtime and was told over the phone how to administer CPR, but the court heard she was already "cold".

CCTV footage from a bar, prior to the attack, showed Sidpara appeared to be angry at Ms Riaz, who was "unstable" on her feet, and the court heard he was "irritated by her drunkenness".

He would later go on to deny he caused her death, and in a police interview, claimed she had a "drinking problem and had fallen over".

The court heard it was apparent Sidpara was "prone to outbursts of anger", but it was not clear what had triggered his attack of Ms Riaz that night.

The judge said: "You have steadfastly refused to explain what you did or why."

'Savage and merciless'

The judge said he was sure Sidpara's claims that he had no memory of what happened were "false", adding that he was able to recollect other events that night.

"What's clear is that you attacked her in a savage and merciless way," he said.

He added: "You punched, kicked and stamped on her in a sustained attack."

Sidpara, who was diagnosed with an alcohol dependence syndrome, later pleaded guilty to manslaughter but denied murder.

"Your conspicuous lack of remorse at any stage was quite remarkable," the judge said.

The court heard Sidpara had 24 previous convictions for 46 offences, many of them driving offences, as well as convictions for violence, threats to kill, and harassment of previous girlfriends and people connected to them.

In 2022, he was convicted of assaulting a former partner, who he had headbutted and threatened to petrol bomb her house.

In a statement read out on behalf of Ms Riaz's brother Balraj Chagger - who was in court alongside his sister Harpreet Chagger - said if it was not his sister whose life was taken, "it would have been someone else".

He said: "All Taz wanted was to be loved and she gave 1,000%."

He added his mum had been left with the regret of "welcoming this monster into our family".

"She wanted to live a life filled with love, joy and purpose. She deserved every bit of that future," he said.