Man killed wife weeks after abuse case collapsed

Veronica Chinyanga begged for her life as her husband turned on her in their back garden in Broxburn

An NHS worker who murdered his wife just weeks after an earlier domestic abuse case collapsed has been jailed for a minimum of 18 years.

Kasikai Chinyanga, 47, killed Veronica Chinyanga as she begged for her life in the back garden of their home in Broxburn, West Lothian, on 9 June last year.

The 42 year-old mother had predicted Chinyanga may not forgive her for previously reporting him to police.

Ms Chinyanga was repeatedly struck with a pronged garden tool - in front of neighbours - before being stabbed in the stomach with a knife.

Chinyanga returned to the High Court in Glasgow on Tuesday having earlier admitted to the murder.

Jailing him for life, Lord Mulholland said the killing had been "cowardly, savage and brutal".

The couple had moved to Scotland from Zimbabwe in 2008.

They had a teenage son together and Veronica's 20 year-old daughter also lived with them.

Chinyanga worked in finance for the NHS. He was training to be an accountant at the time.

His wife - born Chitsidzo, but known as Veronica - was involved in a project to help international health workers adapt to a new country.

Prosecutor Wojciech Jajdelski told how there had been "a history of domestic incidents" between the couple.

He added: "Despite some being reported, criminal proceedings were not concluded due to an apparent reluctance on the part of Veronica Chinyanga to attend court.

"In particular, her second failure to attend as a witness in a summary trial on 27 May 2024 - two weeks before (the murder) - lead to discontinuation of the case."

The charge had included a claim that Chinyanga had been aggressive with his wife, struggled with her and pushed her in early 2023.

The court heard how on 2 June 2024, Ms Chinyanga had texted one of her sisters to say she believed her husband "was not going to forgive her" and was "bitter" at her calling police in connection with her previous allegations.

Audio footage

Hours before the killing, Ms Chinyanga had been with her children at an awards ceremony for her son's football team. Chinyanga did not attend.

The couple then ended up alone in their home that night.

Later, neighbours were aware of a "disturbance" at the couple's three-bed semi-detached house.

Audio footage from a nearby CCTV camera captured Ms Chinyanga's screams, saying her husband was trying to kill her.

At one stage, Ms Chinyanga tried to clamber over their 6ft (1.8m) garden fence, but was dragged back down.

Shocked neighbours repeatedly yelled at Chinyanga to stop.

The advocate depute said: "Chinyanga did not say anything during the assault and did not seem to be panicking."

The court heard how he casually walked back into his house before returning with a knife.

He went up to Ms Chinyanga - who was lying on the ground - and continued the assault, lashing out with the knife. Chinyanga was heard to shout "why?".

He eventually stopped, walked out his front door and asked a neighbour to phone the police.

Ms Chinyanga died in hospital.

Donald Findlay KC, defending, said Chinyanga was "very remorseful" for what he had done.

Lord Mulholland cut the minimum sentence from 20 years due to the guilty plea.