Club tributes to 'strong' coach murdered on beach

Members of a sports club have described how the team was "ripped apart" when their coach was stabbed to death.

Amie Gray, 34, was killed by criminology student Nasen Saadi on a Bournemouth beach on 24 May.

The 20-year-old was convicted of her murder, and the attempted murder of her friend Leanne Miles, 38, at Winchester Crown Court on Wednesday.

Paying tribute, members of Dorset Futsal Club described Ms Gray's death as "chilling".

Ms Gray was an enthusiast of the sport - a form of indoor football. On the night of her murder, she had been at a training session before meeting Ms Miles on Durley Chine Beach.

The pair sat on the sand where they had lit a fire and were watching the full moon together, before Saadi launched his "senseless" and random attack.

Ms Gray, a personal trainer from Poole, died at the scene and Ms Miles was taken to hospital for treatment for stab wounds to her chest and back.

Saadi, who had been staying at a Travelodge and then a guesthouse close to the beach, was arrested three days later.

Teammates at Dorset Futsal Club, who she had seen just hours earlier, described her as "so strong" and "comfortable being completely herself".

In a video released in her memory, club chairman Michael Wootten said she had been an "inspirational leader, teammate and friend" who would never be forgotten.

"To have her go in the way that she went was just horrendous," he said.

"It was like the heart of the club was ripped apart, it really was, because she was so central to everything."

Ms Gray had been ambitious and keen to get the girls' futsal team into the national league.

Player Hollie Bentley said the team would not be the same without her.

"It's feeling that she gave us all that will live on in the club... it's something that she did without even realising," she said.

"We will carry this on for her."

Saadi, who had an interest in true crime and was studying criminology at the University of Greenwich, was arrested at his aunt's house in Purley on 28 May.

A number of knives were recovered from a bedroom at the property and internet searches for "deadliest knife" and "Bournemouth CCTV" were found on his laptop.

Judge Mrs Justice Cutts said Saadi would face imprisonment for life, with a minimum term of "considerable length".

Ms Gray's wife, Sian Gray, said she would "never be forgotten".

In a statement released after the trial verdict, she said: "Amie's life has been brutally taken, but now she can rest in peace.

"She touched the lives of so many. The immense support and love shown by everyone, reflects just that. Her strength lives on in all of us."

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