Iraq war veteran found guilty of murdering Britain’s Got Talent finalist

An Iraq war veteran has been found guilty of murdering Britain’s Got Talent finalist Simonne Kerr.

Desmond Sylva, 41, stabbed his on-off girlfriend more than 70 times in a frenzied attack at his flat in Clapham, south London, in August last year.

The couple, who originally met through dating app Tinder, had arranged to meet at the former soldier’s home after Ms Kerr had finished her nursing shift at Guys and St Thomas’s Hospital.

Prosecutors say the 31-year-old had refused Sylva’s advances to rekindle a sexual relationship, which later sparked the “appalling violence”.

“When he did not get what he wanted, he could not control his anger and he exploded,” prosecutor Oliver Glasgow told the jury.

Using a 20cm kitchen knife, Jamaican-born Sylva attacked Ms Kerr in bed by slashing her throat and stabbing her face and neck dozens of times.

Mr Glasgow said he found it hard to imagine “how terrifying” the last few minutes of Ms Kerr’s life must have been “as she struggled to prevent the man who was supposed to care for her from murdering her”.

He added: “The moment she realised the man who had been pursuing her wanted more than a relationship and in fact wanted to kill her must have been utterly horrifying.”

The former soldier, who served in Iraq and Kosovo, said in court that he “did not mean” to kill Ms Kerr, who was a member of the NHS choir that reached the final stages of Britain’s Got Talent.

“I had deep feelings for her,” he said.

“When I slashed the knife across her throat at that split second I thought I had a mental breakdown.”

Sylva’s psychiatrist Dr Philip Joseph said his client had recalled Ms Kerr, who had called him “good for nothing”, threatening him with a knife.

He believed he could have lost his temper while trying to disarm her, Mr Joseph added.

Sylva did not react as he heard the guilty verdict at the Old Bailey on Wednesday.

He had earlier admitted to manslaughter, but maintained that he was not guilty of murder, citing his depression as a reason.

Speaking to his brother Damian just days before the murder, Sylva had expressed concerns that he believed he would either end up killing himself or someone else.

He had also been treated recently in hospital after taking an overdose.

But jurors heard on Wednesday that while Sylva had depression, bipolar disorder and post traumatic stress disorder, he also had a short temper, with Mr Joseph suggesting that his client was “pre-disposed to violence”.

The psychiatrist said: “It may be his attack on Simonne is all to do with battling with feelings and angry outbursts leading to an enraged state of mind.”

Before joining the army with the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, where he was eventually discharged on medical grounds, Sylva had cut his neck while working at a bakery.

His mother had also in the past reported her son to the police.

In 2010, she reported an incident in which she says Sylva throttled her, while telling her: “You’re dead”.

She eventually dropped the complaint, saying her son had been depressed and suicidal.

Slyva’s ex-wife had also accused her former husband of violence, but the claim had not been proven.

The Crown Prosecution Service’s Louise Attrill said the “shocking attack” was difficult to comprehend in knowing that “her partner, a man she should have trusted without a doubt, could end all of this in a fit of rage”.

She added: “This was a shocking attack on a woman who was busy dedicating her life to worthwhile causes.”

“Having lost her six-year-old son to sickle cell disease, she was campaigning to raise awareness of the illness, and her charitable work also led her to sing in an NHS choir that performed on ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent.”

Sentencing is scheduled for 28 June.

(c) Sky News 2019: Iraq war veteran found guilty of murdering Britain’s Got Talent finalist