Former Aberdeen Asset Management worker jailed over escort murder

Zahid Naseem, 48, who was working for the Toronto-Dominion Bank, was convicted of murder yesterday after a jury rejected his claims that he acted in self defence.

They had heard how Naseem had repeatedly struck Christina Abbotts on the head with a kitchen pestle after a night of drug and alcohol-fuelled sex.

Miss Abbotts had told friends and family that she was an IT consultant in London but in reality was living a secret life as an escort charging £2,000 a time for rendezvous using the pseudonym Tilly Pexton.

She advertised her services online on site AdultWork.com and met clients in luxury hotels in London and at a rented flat in Crawley, West Sussex.

The jury at Lewes Crown Court heard how Naseem, a father of two who was estranged from his long-term partner and had rung up huge debts after spending large sums on drink, drugs and prostitutes, had flown into a rage as Miss Abbotts checked messages on her phone.

He had claimed his diminutive 5ft4in victim tried to throttle him during a sex game.

Police discovered the battered body of Miss Abbotts when they broke down the door of the Crawley flat in the early hours of the morning on May 26 when she failed to attend her own 29th birthday party and friends raised the alarm.

Prosecutor Christopher Tehrani said Naseem launched the ‘brutal’ attack because he was angry that Miss Abbotts was ignoring him as she checked birthday messages.

Using a kitchen pestle he hit her around the head at least 13 times and tried to strangle her before leaving her to die.

He stayed in the flat and when police broke down the door they found him there ‘feigning unconsciousness’.

He was sentenced today by judge Christine Laing 

The court heard that Miss Abbotts’ family are reeling from the shock of her murder and the exposure of her double life.