A woman has been sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison for killing a man charged with sexually assaulting young boys on the east London estate where they lived.
Sarah Sands, 32, was found guilty of the manslaughter of Michael Pleasted, 77, by reason of loss of control.
Pleasted, who had previous convictions, was on bail awaiting trial when he was killed at his flat in east London.
He was stabbed eight times and bled to death, the Old Bailey heard.
‘Determined attack’
Judge Nicholas Cooke QC said it was a “truly exceptional case” as he reduced her sentenced from seven years to three-and-a-half, taking into consideration her position as a single mother.
Sands, who was cleared of murder, had armed herself with a knife and carried out a “determined and sustained attack” on Pleasted at his flat in Canning Town, the court heard.
Pleasted, who also went by the name of Robin Moult, had 24 previous convictions for sexual offences spanning three decades.
He served sentences of between nine months and six years for sex crimes that included indecent assaults on a boys aged under 16 and under 14.
However, he was not on the sex offenders register as he committed his offences before it was introduced in 1997.
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Source: BBC