Brute who raped gran he snatched off street before bludgeoning her to death is jailed for further five years
A MONSTER who raped a gran before bludgeoning her to death with a wooden club embedded with nails has been jailed.
Valentin Lazar, 23, chillingly followed 45-year-old Maria Rawlings from a bus before dragging her into undergrowth.
The killer battered and strangled the gran to death before leaving her to die in agony an hour later.
Her naked and battered body was discovered by a dogwalker the following day.
He was previously jailed for life with a minimum of 23 years and six months after he admitted murder.
The fiend has now been given a further five years in prison after he pleaded guilty to raping mum-of-two Maria.
In a victim impact statement, Maria’s dad Tony said: “Your 15 minutes of anger towards a defenceless grandmother has caused me and my family a lifetime of pain.”
While daughter Charlee Rawlings said her mum was a “fun loving soul who would never cause harm to anyone”.
Lazar, who came to the UK from Romania in 2018, was captured on CCTV following Maria as they got off a bus in Romford, East London.
He then grabbed hold of her arm and dragged Maria into bushes during the May 2021 horror.
Lazar emerged around 31 minutes later – before returning into the undergrowth once more to steal the grandmother’s handbag.
Her naked body was found the following day with her bank cards, shoes and purse strewn nearby.
A post mortem showed Maria was strangled to death and had also suffered injuries to her mouth, chest and knee.
She also had 15 fractured ribs following the “assault of exceptional violence” and there were footprints to her stomach where she was stomped on.
At the time, prosecutors suggested there had been a possible “sexual motive” to the murder because Maria had bruises on her inner thighs and was found naked.
While in custody for murder, Lazar “made admissions” during a risk assessment that led to him being charged with rape.
When I saw the blood I started panicking. I didn’t want to kill her, I just wanted her to shut up or to injure her so seriously she went to hospital.
Evil Valentin Lazar
He later told a probation officer: “I pushed her to the ground and at that very moment I wanted to have sex with her when she was down.
“I saw she was trying to cry out for help so I slapped her in the face.
“I took off her blouse and left her naked because I wanted to have sex with her.”
The fiend said Maria started screaming so he repeatedly punched her to shut her up.
He added: “When I saw the blood I started panicking. I didn’t want to kill her, I just wanted her to shut up or to injure her so seriously she went to hospital.”
In a previous tribute, Maria’s daughter Charlee said: “I do not think I actually know where to start to explain the impact my mum’s murder has had on me.
“My mum was my best friend. I am 17 years old and lived with my mum.
“We were best friends, we talked about everything, we shared everything in our lives.”
