Woman stabbed 19 times by partner, court hears

Alana Odysseos died outside her flat in Walthamstow, east London, in the early hours of 22 July 2024

A pregnant mother-of-two died after being stabbed 19 times by her partner, a court has heard.

Alana Odysseos, 32, who grew up in Suffolk and lived in Walthamstow, east London, died outside her flat in the early hours of 22 July 2024.

Shaine March, 47, of Surrey Quays in south-east London, was charged with her murder and is on trial at the Old Bailey in London.

He previously pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility but denied murder.

At the time of her death, Ms Odysseos had been in a relationship with the defendant for four months and had recently discovered she was pregnant, the court heard.

In her opening statement, prosecutor Louise Oakley told the jury that at about 03:00 BST on 22 July 2024 several members of the public rang 999 to report an incident.

Ms Odysseos' neighbours described how the 32-year-old was found in her dressing gown, bleeding from multiple wounds and shouting: "Shaine stabbed me, he stabbed me! Help! Help!"

The Metropolitan Police and London Ambulance Service arrived within minutes of the 999 calls and Ms Odysseos died at 03:52.

Constant arguing

Mr March was reported to police shortly afterwards when he entered Creams Cafe in Walthamstow covered in blood, Ms Oakley added.

Ms Oakley told the court, when police officers arrested Mr March at 04:41 he told them: "I did it, I killed her Alana Odysseos" and "I killed her hahahaha I killed her hahahaha."

Three months before her death, Ms Odysseos had talked about her relationship with Mr March to her friend, Dawn Hayward.

Ms Odysseos told Ms Hayward that she was not allowed to talk to people, that she had begun to argue constantly with Mr March and had become scared, Ms Oakley told the court.

The court heard that Ms Odysseos confided in her father, Alan Yates, that Mr March had been in prison and was on licence.

In a statement read out to the jury, Ms Odysseos' sister, Jasmine Yates, from Melbourn, Cambridgeshire, described how she spoke to her sister every day and had been trying to convince Ms Odysseos to leave Mr March.

In WhatsApp messages sent on 21 July 2024, Ms Odysseos told her sister: "I got pains and Shaine's acting up I can't do this."

Ms Yates replied: "Oh sis u deserve so much better x."

The trial continues.