Thug 'mercilessly' beat girlfriend then got into bed with her and fell asleep as she died

Raj Sidpara, 50, murdered his 44-year-old girlfriend Tarnjeet Riaz after a night out, inflicting 64 injuries to her face, head and chest including a brain injury during his 'savage' attack

A vile thug launched a "savage and merciless" attack on his girlfriend before getting into bed and falling asleep as she lay dying alongside him.

Raj Sidpara murdered Tarnjeet Riaz in the bedroom of his home in Leicester after a night out together earlier this year. Leicester Crown Court heard that Ms Riaz, also known by her maiden name Chagger, suffered 64 injuries to her face, head and chest, including bruising, a brain injury and 20 rib fractures. Prosecutor Steven Bailey previously told the jury that Sidpara's savagery left her lip "torn away from the jaw". The 50-year-old had claimed Ms Riaz, 44, was drunk and had injured herself falling over.

Sidpara admitted manslaughter before trial, but the jury convicted him of the more serious charge of murder earlier this month. On Friday, Judge William Harbage KC handed him a mandatory life sentence with a minimum term of 21 years behind bars.

The judge told Sidpara: "You have hidden, I am sure, behind a false claim of having no memory of the incident. You attacked her in a savage and merciless way. Your conspicuous lack of remorse at any stage is quite remarkable."

The couple, who had been together for five months, had been on a night out together on Sunday, May 5 prior to Sidpara's attack. They left a bar in Lewisher Road in the east of the city, at around 11pm, and Ms Riaz was "unsteady on her feet" when Sidpara drove them home, the jury had heard.

Once home, Sidpara "beat and kicked and stamped" on Ms Riaz in his bedroom. He then took off his "bloody shoes" and got into bed and fell asleep next to where Ms Riaz, known as Taz, lay dead or dying.

The next day, he dialled 999 and was told to perform CPR - but by this time Ms Riaz was already dead, the court heard. The court was told of Sidpara's previous convictions, and his record showed that he had an "established pattern" of domestic abuse, including violence and making threats to kill a former partner.

In a statement read to the court during Friday's hearing, Ms Riaz's brother Balraj Chagger said his sister had been the "soul" of their family. He added: "We will never know how this disgusting man took enjoyment from doing this to people and to Tarnjeet.

"If it was not Tarnjeet, it would have been someone else. This man took pleasure hurting someone weaker than himself, a vulnerable woman, one of many he has hurt before. His actions are vile, inexcusable, and utterly lacking in remorse. She was ripped away from us in a way so violent we cannot begin to understand."

The court heard that Sidpara has been diagnosed with alcohol dependence. His barrister, Sarah Vine KC, said: "It was quite clearly his excessive intoxication... which proved to be the gateway to this level of violence."

The judge told the court: "I accept, on balance, his intention was to cause really serious harm, not to kill, and there is a lack of premeditation. He clearly has a number of difficulties, but I'm not satisfied they lessen his degree of culpability or responsibility. The evidence does not suggest he was blind drunk. The evidence in the trial was that he was capable of driving home."

Addressing Sidpara, the judge said: "Taz was visibly intoxicated and unsteady on her feet. It is clear from the evidence, not least you blowing smoke from your vape into her face, that you were irritated by her drunkenness. She must have suffered real physical pain before she died. She died at the hands of her partner – someone she should have been able to trust."