A “violent, self-obsessed” steroid user murdered his girlfriend by stabbing her in the neck, a court has heard.
During the 999 call he made after the attack, Taye Francis sent a picture to his lawyer showing Khloemae Loy lying dead on a bed, along with the message “I’ve killed my girlfriend”, a jury at the Old Bailey was told.
The 23-year-old was pronounced dead in a hotel room in Greenwich, South East London, on July 5.
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Prosecutor Kate Lumsdon QC said there “is no issue that he killed her” but told jurors they must consider whether he was suffering from any mental condition at the time.
She said: “The Crown’s position is that Mr Francis was a violent, self-obsessed man who took steroids. Apart from building muscle mass, steroids have various side effects. These include aggression and paranoia.
“Our case is that he killed her in anger. It was murder.”
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Francis, 40, of no fixed address, has pleaded guilty to manslaughter. His defence is that he suffers from a recognised medical condition which diminishes his responsibility for the killing.
On the day of Ms Loy’s death, Francis sent a series of texts to people, including his lawyers, headed “Conspiracy to Murder”, saying he had told the police that someone was trying to arrange his murder and attempts had already been made on his life.
Online searches were made in the middle of the night using terms such as “Taye Francis rapist” and “Who is Taye Francis”, and he filmed Ms Loy while she was asleep.
The 999 call operator tried to encourage Francis to give first aid to Ms Loy.
Police and paramedics tried to get into the fifth-floor hotel room but it was blocked by a sofa bed and officers had to force their way in.
Khloemae Loy was pronounced dead at the scene
(Image: MPS)
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Ms Lumsdon said Ms Loy was found “lying on the bed on her back, her eyes were slightly open and staring at the ceiling”.
The bedclothes were soaked in blood and she had “a deep cut to her neck”.
Francis, who had thrown a small rucksack and a suitcase out of the window, was seen hanging from a ledge outside.
Francis, who had bleeding cuts to his body, was eventually dealt with by the emergency services, put into an induced coma and taken to hospital. Tests on his blood showed he had recently taken anabolic steroids.
The blade which killed Ms Loy was discovered on the floor under the headboard of the bed by a specialist search team, and vials of anabolic steroids were found in the rucksack.
The court heard that photographs of steroids, along with information about buying and using them, were found on Francis’s phone.
‘Bubbly’ and ‘caring’ young woman
Khloemae, from Croydon, was described as a caring and bubbly woman by her friends.
“She was very outgoing, she was bubbly. She created the party and she always had good energy, good vibes,” said friend Chloe Cantle to The Mirror .
Ms Loy was a gymnast and had worked at a nursery.
The trial continues.
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