A Nigerian immigrant who raped and murdered a Belfast mother-of-one has been told he must serve at least 22 years of a life sentence before even being considered for release.

Jailing 25-year-old Kristoff Emmanuel Alauya at Belfast Crown Court yesterday, Mr Justice Weir told the African he could find no evidence of remorse on his part for the gruesome killing.

The judge said that he found it “impossible to comprehend” the fact that after raping and killing Ms Moore, he ransacked her home and put personal items into bags to take with him.

“No-one who has seen the police photographs could be anything but appalled at the callous manner in which her body had been left spreadeagled, lying on the kitchen floor,” said Mr Justice Weir.

After the hearing, Ms Moore’s daughter Lori described the terrible moment, at the age of 16, when she discovered her mother’s body She told off the terrible loss she has endured as a result of the rape and murder of her mum.

Fighting back tears, she said: “I went in and saw her but I couldn’t go back. I ran out screaming. I remember it, I just don’t think about it.

“I lost my mum, I lost my home, I lost my friend, I lost just everything. Most people have a mum who they talk to or who they get advice from or are inspired by, but I don’t. He robbed me of that.”

Lori now lives with her mother’s parents. Her grandfather, Victor Moore, said: “It is terrible what this man has done. I just don’t want to think about him. It’s as simple as that. A life sentence should mean a life sentence as far as I am concerned.”

Following two days of evidence at his trial last November, Alauya, with an address at Churchfield in Carlow in the Republic of Ireland, pleaded guilty to the rape and murder of 38-year-old Grace Moore on November 18, 2006.

Alauya left her bloody and lifeless body lying on the kitchen floor of her Erris Grove flat after the gruesome attack.

The jury heard that Alauya had come to Belfast a couple of days before he met Ms Moore at Skye nightclub, and had gone back with her to the flat. After leaving Ms Moore for dead, Alauya ransacked her home, stealing perfume, jewellery, documents, a DVD player, cheque books and a switch card.

The jury also heard that crime scene investigators uncovered Alauya’s bloody fingerprint on a wall and the post mortem examination revealed Alauya’s semen both inside and underneath Ms Moore’s body.

The examination also revealed that one of two stab wounds had severed the cartoid artery as it traversed the width of her neck and had caused massive bleeding which lead to her rapid death. Along with the wounds, there were bruises to Ms Moore’s neck, indicating she was strangled.

Walking away from the bloody scene, the cold-hearted killer hailed a taxi, asking the driver to stop at Creighton’s Garage where he bought microwave burgers.

Alauya was arrested the next day at Skye nightclub when cops went to the Belfast hotspot during their investigations and from there, uncovered Ms Moore’s belongings in a flat at University Avenue.

Yesterday, Mr Justice Weir said Ms Moore's family had been left devastated by her death, but that they were a close knit family “providing each other with support”.

Turning to Alauya's background, the judge revealed that the Nigerian had tried to claim asylum after arriving in Dublin and that while there, had married an Irish woman, become addicted to cocaine, fathered four children by four different women and had attacked and robbed two taxi drivers at gunpoint.

The Nigerian has pleaded guilty to those charges but has not been sentenced as he fled to Belfast.

As well as the 22-year life term, Mr Justice Weir imposed a 10-year term for Ms Moore's rape and two years for theft to be served concurrently. He ordered Alauya to sign the sex offender’s register for the rest of his life.

Belfast Telegraph