This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

A man has been found guilty of strangling an 80-year-old woman to avoid being thrown off his allotment.

Rahim Mohammadi, 42, killed Lea Adri-Soejoko with a lawnmower flex and hid her body at Colindale allotments in north London in February last year.

Adri-Soejoko, an allotment secretary, was found dead in a locked mower shed after her family raised concerns that she had failed to turn up at a meeting.

Mohammadi, from Hackney in north London, was found guilty of her murder after a retrial at the Old Bailey. John Price QC, prosecuting, had told jurors Mohammadi had a reputation for having a volatile temper.

Mohammadi, originally from Iran, had been involved with the allotment since 2008 through Freedom from Torture, a charity that supports survivors experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder.

In September 2016, he clashed with Adri-Soejoko at an allotment association meeting. Price said the defendant had ambitions to take over running the allotment, which made Adri-Soejoko wary of him.

During a heated discussion over evictions, she had told him to “shut up” and Mohammadi called her a “bloody old witch”, the court heard.

In February last year, Mohammadi attacked Adri-Soejoko on the allotment, causing bruising and fractures to her ribs. The prosecution alleged he then throttled her to stop her from reporting the incident, which would have led to his eviction.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Lea Adri-Soejoko, 80, was an allotment secretary. Photograph: Metropolitan police/PA

Price said: “Mrs Adri-Soejoko was beaten up. That, in turn, does point to a motive for her murder – to avoid detection for a shocking and very serious assault on a vulnerable old lady.”

The victim’s body was locked up in the mower shed, which only four keyholders had access to, including Mohammadi and Adri-Soejoko, whose set was in her pocket when her body was discovered.

The prosecution said Mohammadi had planned to move Adri-Soejoko to avoid suspicion being cast at him, but police following the sound of her ringing phone found the body before he could act.

His DNA was found on the cord used to strangle her and he was caught on CCTV coming and going from the allotment, jurors were told. In police interviews, Mohammadi gave inconsistent accounts of his movements.

DNA belonging to a second suspect was retrieved from the victim’s right hand but extensive inquiries found he had been nowhere near Colindale.

The court heard Mohammadi, who is Kurdish, sought political asylum in Britain in 2005 and was given indefinite leave to remain in 2010.

Giving evidence, he said on the day of the killing he had gone to the allotments to buy opium for his bad back. He claimed he heard shouting but dismissed it as a drunken fight.

The defendant made no reaction as the jury delivered its guilty verdict. But as he was led from the dock, Mohammadi turned to the jury and said: “You will have that on your conscience, sending an innocent man to prison.”

The judge, Richard Marks QC, adjourned sentencing until Friday.