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He knifed his ex girlfriend 14 times before dousing her body in petrol when she ended their relationship.

But asylum-seeker Ari Abdullah will soon be free after serving just 11 years for Samantha Anderson’s horrifying murder.

The nursery nurse did not stand a chance when the Iraqi body-builder lashed out with a kitchen knife as she returned to the Newcastle flat they used to share to pick up some post.

And after plunging the blade through her heart Abdullah risked catastrophe at the high-rise tower block when he doused her body in petrol.

The factory worker admitted murder at Newcastle Crown Court and was jailed for life in 2007.

(Image: Newcastle Chronicle)

But after giving credit for his guilty plea and hearing mitigation about his troubled childhood in Iraq, Judge John Milford set the minimum sentence at just 11 years.

Now Samantha’s still heartbroken family have been told he will be freed in July.

And the Andersons, who had been told the killer would be deported after his release, fear he may be allowed to stay in the country and live in the North East.

Samantha’s dad Peter, 61, said: “He’s a very very dangerous person. What do you have to do to get thrown out the country? If he comes back to the North East we will have to be vigilant all the time. From July all our doors are going to have to be locked. It’s never going to go away and it doesn’t get any easier. But the thought of him walking free makes it worse.”

However, a Home Office spokeswoman told ChronicleLive that every effort is made to deport foreign nationals who commit crimes on British soil.

(Image: Newcastle Chronicle)

She said: “Foreign nationals who abuse our hospitality by committing crimes in the UK should be in no doubt of our determination to deport them and we have removed more than 40,000 foreign offenders since 2010.

“Every effort is made to ensure that offenders are deported upon the completion of their prison sentence. Where that is not possible, the Home Office can detain under immigration powers.”

Samantha grew up in Cramlington with her mum, dad and siblings Gary, Dawn and Jacqueline. At the age of 18 she decided she wanted to work with children, and eventually got a job at the Buffer Bear Nursery, near Newcastle Central Station.

Samantha met Abdullah at the now closed Buffalo Joe’s bar, Gateshead’s Quayside, in 2003.

She was immediately smitten and after a whirlwind romance the couple got engaged and moved into a flat at Vallum Court in Newcastle’s West End.

Peter and Samantha’s mum Valerie have previously said they had concerns about their daughter’s new love and did not trust him.

And they were relieved when in July 2006 the relationship ended after Abdullah, then 30, became violent towards his girlfriend.

Samantha, 29, returned to her family home in Cramlington, and Abdullah was cautioned for an assault against her.

In the following months Samantha seemed to be enjoying life without her controlling ex, her parents said.

She went on holiday, began enjoying her nights out again, and started seeing a new man, John McGregor, a chef from Scotland.

But a twist of fate led her back to the flat she had shared with Abdullah, on October 30, 2006, and ultimately cost her her life.

Samantha told her family she was going to call in after work to pick up her post because her bank told her a replacement cash card had been sent there. But she failed to return home.

The following day police turned-up at Valerie’s workplace and told her Samantha had been killed.

At Newcastle Crown Court the Andersons heard how Abdullah had flown into a violent rage and lashed Samantha about the head with his heavy weight-lifting belt before grabbing the knife and stabbing her repeatedly as she fought in vain for her life.

Abdullah, who had drunk a bottle of whisky, doused her and the bloodstained flat with petrol in a bid to cover his tracks.

But he never lit the fuel and was found slumped with self-inflicted knife wounds beside Samantha’s body hours after the killing.

Judge John Milford, who said he gave Abdullah credit for his guilty plea to murder and good work record since arriving in the North East in 2002, ordered he must serve a minimum of 11 years and eight months before he can be considered for release.

Over the last decade Samantha’s family have tried their best to get on with life without their beloved girl.

But they were dealt a further blow when the Ministry of Justice contacted them about Abdullah’s release.

The Andersons were asked for their views on areas of Cramlington that the killer should be banned from entering after he is freed, which is likely to be on July 4.

(Image: NCJ Media)

The request cast doubt on their assumption that the murderer would be immediately deported after he left prison. And Peter says no-one has given them a definite answer about whether his daughter’s murderer might be allowed to stay in the UK.

“At court the barrister said when he gets out he’s going to be deported,” he said. “Our understanding was that he would be kicked out of the country after he was released, but that doesn’t ring true now, it’s all up in the air. They are leaving us in the dark and we aren’t getting any answers.”