An obsessed house mate has been jailed for at least 20 years for killing a "caring" primary school teacher in a horrific hammer attack.

Romanian Lucian Stinci, 34, was so infatuated with Florina Pastina, 36, that he installed spy cameras to watch her in the shower of the shared house where they lived in Croydon, south London.

Even though she showed no interest in him, he sent her Valentine's Day cards, describing her as the "most beautiful creature from the universe", the Old Bailey heard.

The night before the killing, he spent six hours drinking cider, taking 6 grams of cocaine and a Viagra-like drug as he watched sadomasochistic videos of women being tortured, raped, restrained and killed.

On the morning of July 19 last year, still "fired up" by the drugs and extreme porn, Stinci texted a colleague to say he had something to do before work.

Armed with a hammer from his bedroom, he hit Ms Pastina from behind as she made coffee in the kitchen.

He then continued to batter her over the head as she lay on the floor, causing blood to spatter over the walls and ceiling.

Ms Pastina also suffered burns to the pubic area from boiling water, which Judge Richard Marks QC said was "likely" to have been deliberately poured from a kettle, although he could not be sure.

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Having fatally injured his victim, Stinci used the same hammer to batter her nephew and niece Nicholas Hellen and Claudia Pastina, both 25.

They fled the house and Stinci hid the weapon by the garden shed and changed his clothes before police arrived.

Mr Hellen was left needing stitches for a cut on the head and his twin sister suffered bruises to the arm and thigh.

Afterwards, investigators found seven videos of Ms Pastina in the shower at the house in Alpha Road, and four screen shots taken from Stinci's secretly recorded footage.

Last Friday, Stinci pleaded guilty to her murder as well as assault occasioning actual bodily harm, unlawful wounding and possession of cocaine.

Jailing him for life with a minimum of 20 years, Judge Marks said it was a "vicious" assault, fuelled by cocaine and "disgusting" porn material.

It was clear Ms Pastina's former pupils "thought the world of her" and she was an "understanding person who was greatly loved", he added.

The court heard Ms Pastina came to Britain from Romania in 2010 while the defendant had lived in the UK for 10 years and worked as a supervisor for Mayday Hotels in Croydon.

Earlier in a victim impact statement, Ms Pastina's brother Florin Pastina described her as "beautiful and happy".

Detective Chief Inspector Noel McHugh, of Scotland Yard, said Stinci was an "evil, wicked man".

He said: "Florina will always be remembered by those who knew her as a truly amazing young woman, who had such a promising future.

"She was described as such a talented teacher, who positively shaped the futures of her pupils."

A statement from her school in Thornton Heath said: "This has had a significant impact on the children, families and staff at the school.

"I hope that now we can begin to remember her for the kind, caring teacher and person that she was."

PA Media