Killer who murdered Golders Green pensioner, 84, should not be freed early, judge rules

Ann Mendel (Image: Archant)

Millionaire’s daughter, Kemi Adeyoola, was just 17 when she stabbed former neighbour Ann Mendel, 84, 14 times in March 2005.

She was convicted of murder and jailed for life at the Old Bailey in June 2006, with her minimum term set at 20 years.

Adeyoola, now 28, tried to have her tariff reduced, claiming she had made “exceptional and unforseen progress” during her time behind bars.

But Mr Justice Singh said: “There is clearly a lot of work still to be done”.

The judge told the court Adeyoola and her family used to live next to Mrs Mendel and her husband, who discovered her body covered in coats in the hallway of their home.

He said: “It is clear that not only was the victim targeted, both for financial gain and in order to experience an act of killing, but the victim had previously been kind to this applicant.”

Mrs Mendel’s murder was intended to be a “practice run” for a plot to find and kill elderly rich woman to kill for her money - from which she hoped to make £3million.

Adeyoola wrote an 18-page murder manual while she was serving a sentence for shoplifting, which was discovered during a cell search at Bullwood Hall, Essex.

However, she claimed it was the plot of a crime thriller she was writing.

When she was first jailed, the killing was described by Judge Richard Hone as “planned and premeditated to an extreme degree”.

He said she was “intelligent, manipulative and skilled in deceit” and a described her as: “a remorseless and cold-blooded killer, who is a serious and continuing danger to the public.”

Lawyers for Adeyoola said she had acheived all of her sentence planning targets well in advance of her tariff expiring, and holds a position of trust within the prison - including being trusted to work with vulnerable fellow inmates.

They also argued that any “non-compliance” with the prison regime should be considered in light of her being diagnosed with possible Asperger’s syndrome.

However, Mr Justice Singh said a prison report pointed to poor behaviour including “deliberately stealing items from her peers” and a “long history of pushing boundaries”.

There was also evidence of prisoners being intimidated by her obsessive behaviour towards them and she has a history of abusing substances while in custody.

Another report said she had completed a number of “treatment goals” and started an Open University course.

But she had “not conducted herself in a manner that would indicate an exceptional progression in custody”.