Man finally admits murdering ‘hero’ trans woman Amy Griffiths on the day his trial was due to start
Amy Griffiths was murdered in January 2019. (amy_griffiths/facebook)
A man accused of murdering trans woman Amy Griffiths finally admitted to killing her on the day his trial was due to begin.
Martin Saberi, 55, initially pleaded not guilty to Griffiths’ murder after she was found dead in her flat in Worcester, England, on 14 January, 2019.
He entered a guilty plea on Monday (15 February) just before the murder trial was due to begin in Worcester Crown Court, according to Worcester News.
The trial was due to begin at 10am, but technical issues pushed it back by four hours as court staff struggled to get a video link to work.
An alternative method was eventually found, which allowed Saberi to enter his guilty plea. As a result, the trial was called off as a jury was no longer needed.
Saberi will be sentenced on 11 March at Worcester Crown Court.
He was first charged with the murder of Amy Griffiths in late January 2019, but he pleaded not guilty at a court hearing later that year, which meant a murder trial would have to go ahead.
The trial was subsequently delayed twice due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Amy Griffiths remembered as a ‘hero’ by local LGBT+ community.
There was an outpouring of grief in the local LGBT+ community when Griffiths’ body was discovered in January 2019. The 51-year-old had suffered head and throat injuries.
Connor Turner, one of Griffiths friends, told Worcester News in 2019 that she was a “hero” to the LGBT+ community in the area.
“She didn’t have a selfish bone in her body,” Turner said. “She helped me through some difficult times when I was younger.
“I knew her from when I was 15-years-old. I ended up on the streets for a bit. She found me outside a local shopping market and offered to cook me tea.”
She went on to help Turner come to terms with his sexuality, and a friendship quickly blossomed between them.
Griffiths was also praised as “a lovely person with a good sense of humour” by Mike Davis, who lived in the same apartment complex as her.
