A man nicknamed “Nasty” has been jailed for 16 and a half years at the Old Bailey following his conviction for murdering a 27-year-old woman he savagely assaulted on an east London street last August after throwing her from a vehicle.
Judge Richard Marks KC sentenced Duane Owusu Monday after a jury rejected his claims that he merely pushed Zahwa Salah Mukhtar away to “de-escalate” the situation, finding him guilty of murder in March following testimony describing him appearing “like a monster” during the fatal attack.
The court heard Mukhtar suffered a fractured skull causing her death after Owusu struck her neck with a “forceful swing,” causing her falling backwards and striking her head on the pavement following an escalating confrontation outside the car.
Judge Marks detailed how Owusu kicked at Mukhtar after exiting the vehicle—though “neither of the kicks appeared to make contact”—before a woman attempted placing herself between the attacker and victim only to be pushed aside during his “acts of aggression.”
“There was no justification for the forceful blow,” Judge Marks stated, emphasising the lethal punch landing moments after the victim had pleaded with Owusu to stop his assault.
Passenger Paige Allen’s testimony proved crucial during the earlier trial, with her describing Owusu’s terrifying demeanour: “He looked like a monster when punching her. There was no controlling him. He seemed so angry. He was just raged.”
Ms Allen told the court she wanted helping Mukhtar but Owusu “screamed” at her returning to the car, adding: “Everyone was shouting at him and everyone in the car did not agree with what he had done. It was too much. He took it too far. She did not deserve to be thrown out of the car the way he was doing.”
The attack sequence began with Owusu forcibly ejecting Mukhtar from the vehicle before launching the brutal assault on the pavement, with Judge Marks satisfied that whilst the kicks missed their target, this wasn’t Owusu’s intention during the violent confrontation.
The victim’s final moments saw her pleading for the attack to cease before Owusu delivered the fatal neck blow that caused her catastrophic head injury when she fell backwards onto the street.
Owusu had denied punching Mukhtar throughout his trial, maintaining his actions constituted defensive measures to de-escalate tensions—a version of events comprehensively rejected by jurors who convicted him of murder following deliberations.
The 16.5-year sentence reflects the severity of the unprovoked fatal assault that shocked witnesses and claimed the life of a young woman left dying on an east London street.
