A crack addict has been jailed for life for killing a pensioner who arrived in Britain to start a new life away from his war-torn homeland. Arulanantham Jayasundarakumar, 66, was stabbed to death at a greengrocer's shop in Horns Road, Ilford, in April 2007, a year after arriving in the UK. Idris Jaulim, 21, from Barkingside, Essex, was ordered to serve at least 22 years for the killing in east London.
He was found guilty of murder at an earlier hearing at the Old Bailey.
The jury heard how Jayasundarakumar was stabbed in the stomach when he inadvertently blocked the path of robber Jaulim. "Jaulim's intention was to get to the till and its contents," said Peter Wright QC, prosecuting.
"As the victim walked into the defendant's path, he grabbed hold of him and produced a knife in his left hand and brandished it towards him." In the scuffle, Jaulim plunged the kitchen knife into him, severing a major artery. He was dead within minutes, the court heard. Jayasundarakumar and his wife had waited 16 years to join their son Jeyatheepan in Britain.
In a statement read to the Old Bailey she described him as "her ideal and sincere husband, her love and the brightness of her life". Judge Peter Rook told Jaulim: "After undergoing lives against the backdrop of civil war in Sri Lanka they expected life would be peaceful here.
"However, three days after the first anniversary of their arrival you sacrificed Mr Jayasundarakumar's life to satisfy your cravings." The court head an hour after the robbery Jaulim stabbed secretary Laura Brittain as he stole her handbag and later forged a £500 cheque taken from it.