Maureen Gitau: Caretaker jailed for murdering woman dumped in bin

A caretaker who killed a woman before placing her body in a bin which is then believed to have been incinerated has been sentenced to life in prison.

Mark Moodie, 55, of Woolwich, south-east London, was convicted of murdering Maureen Gitau at Woolwich Crown Court last month.

Despite a large-scale police search, her body has not been found since she disappeared on 5 December last year.

The sentencing judge told Moodie he would serve a minimum term of 20 years.

Ms Gitau, 24, was last seen by her family as she left her aunt's birthday party in Deptford. Her family reported her missing five days later.

During the trial, the court was told she left the party to meet Moodie, who took her to a block of flats where he worked.

The pair were seen on CCTV going into Richmond House in Deptford but Ms Gitau did not re-emerge.

Moodie was later seen moving a large communal waste bin around the basement of the building, the jury was told.

He then put it back in the bin store and covered Ms Gitau's body with rubbish before it was taken to a processing plant where it was "inevitably" incinerated.

Moodie had denied murder but was found guilty by the jury.

Follow BBC London on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected]