A MAN has been jailed for life in Belfast after he admitted raping and murdering a mother of one.
The Belfast Crown Court trial of Kristoff Emmanual Alauya was halted yesterday after Frank O'Donoghue QC, defending, asked that his client be rearraigned.
Alauya (25), from Nigeria, with an address at Churchfield, Co Carlow, then pleaded guilty to raping Grace Moore (38) in her own flat on November 18th, 2006.
Alauya admitted murdering her and stealing many of her personal belongings including perfume, jewellery, personal documents, a DVD player, cheque books and a switch card.
Following his guilty pleas and the jury recording verdicts of "guilty by confession", Mr Justice Weir told Alauya the only sentence open to him to pass was one of life imprisonment "which I now do".
The judge will set a minimum term after receiving victim impact statements from Ms Moore's family.
The jury had heard how Alauya, came to Belfast a few days before meeting Ms Moore in Skye nightclub on the night of her murder.
They went back to her flat, where he stabbed her twice in the neck, strangled her and raped her.
After ransacking her flat, Alauya hailed a taxi and asked the driver to stop at a garage where he bought microwave burgers because he was hungry.
Ms Moore's body was found lying on the kitchen floor by her teenage daughter when she returned home.
Forensic examinations of the flat revealed Alauya's fingerprint in Ms Moore's blood and evidence of his semen inside and underneath her body.