Every third day, in our #EveryThreeDays campaign, I write about a woman killed by a man. Previously in this campaign, which started on 2nd May 2021, we have remembered 74 women, the last being Kelly Pearce, who was murdered by Anthony Ayres.
Today, we remember Ravinder Jutla, whose body was discovered precisely six years ago today – 2nd December 2015. As is often the case, a partner or former partner was the perpetrator in her attack – in Ravinder’s case, it was Alex Springer.
Springer was charged with murder, and his case was heard at the Old Bailey in May of 2016.
Ms Jutla had gone to meet with her sister on the afternoon of November 29, before returning home. Police believe she was killed shortly afterwards – but her body remained in the property for four days until December 2, when Springer confessed to his son-in-law. The court heard the defendant, who also shared the house with his mother, cried: “Mummy, mummy, I didn’t mean to do,” it when police discovered the remains .
During those four days, Springer’s mother tried to contact Ms Jutla, unaware that her dead body lay nearby in her son’s bedroom. A post-mortem examination was held on December 4 at Uxbridge Mortuary and gave the cause of death as three stab wounds to the neck, blunt force trauma to the head and possible pressure to the neck. Jurors had heard Springer was cooking a Sunday roast when the victim returned home from a day out with her sister and told him she wished she had not come back.
The defendant, who spent his days at home following his job loss as a warehouseman in February 2015, said: “I don’t know what came over me. I just lost it when she said those words, ‘I wish I had not come home’.“My mind just went blank. I can’t explain it. Just blank”. Recalling the brutal attack, he said: “I just remember getting up and grabbing her. I picked up an iron and started hitting her with the iron.“She fell to the floor. I thought she was dead. I just went to the kitchen. I wanted to kill myself.
Springer had pleaded not guilty on the grounds of he was suffering from an abnormality of mental function at the time but the jurors were not satisfied and he was found guilty and given a life sentence.
Ravinder Jutla
#EveryThreeDays
