A violent south London man who stabbed his former partner to death less than a fortnight after being released early from prison has been jailed for life.
Robert Sabat, 60, from Balham, killed 42-year-old Dickiesha Nurse — known to her family as Keisha — at her flat in Tulse Hill, days after walking out of HMP Wandsworth on licence. On Wednesday, he was handed a mandatory life sentence at the Old Bailey, with a minimum term of 17 years and one month.
The sentencing judge, Sarah Whitehouse KC, told the court Ms Nurse, a mother of two, had been adored by her family and spoke of the terrible and devastating pain her death had caused them.
Sabat had been freed on licence on October 17 last year, just a day after Kingston Crown Court sentenced him to 12 months in prison for possessing a bladed article and harassing a former partner. That case followed an incident on May 1 last year in which he banged on the door of another former partner’s home armed with two knives. He had been held on remand since May, and his licence was not due to expire until May 22, 2026.
Within days of his release, Sabat was back at Ms Nurse’s flat and refusing to leave. Two days after he got out, her children came to visit and were told her “friend or cousin” was staying. On October 22, Ms Nurse told a neighbour Sabat was at her address and would not go; another neighbour saw her in the street shouting at him to get out of her house. On October 24, a neighbour heard a single scream coming from the flat.
Ms Nurse was last seen on CCTV the following day. When her secondary school-age children knocked at her door on Sunday, October 26, there was no answer, and the next day worried relatives raised the alarm. Paramedics carried out a welfare check at the flat, accompanied by her sister and mother.
Getting no reply, a crew member climbed in through an open window and opened the front door. Moments later, Sabat burst through an internal door and charged towards them brandishing a red-handled knife. The paramedics and family members withdrew from the property and police were called.
Armed officers forced their way in and used Tasers to detain Sabat, who smelled strongly of alcohol. Inside, they found Ms Nurse’s body on a bed with a pillow over her face. A post-mortem examination found she had suffered around eight stab wounds to her face, neck and hands. Officers recovered a knife bearing her blood, a bag marked “HMP valuables” and Sabat’s prison records from the flat.
Prosecutor Catherine Farrelly KC told the court Sabat and Ms Nurse had previously been in a relationship and had known each other for many years — the defendant had been brought up by her father.
After his arrest, Sabat told officers he had killed before and claimed he was about to go on a “murder spree”. He begged to be sent back to prison, saying he had only been out a week. He later asked: “What have I done? I’m sorry.”
In a victim impact statement read to the court, Ms Nurse’s sister Samantha Carvalho described Sabat as a “menace to society”. Her mother, Claudette McBean, remembered her daughter as kind and loving, the life and soul of the party, and said she was haunted by the thought of Sabat staying at the flat for days.
The court heard Sabat has convictions dating back to 1987, including burglary, assault, wounding with intent, knife possession and harassment of an ex-partner. He was made subject to a non-molestation order involving a former partner in 2013, and in August 2023 he was given a restraining order after being cleared of attempted murder when the complainant — his landlady — failed to attend court.
In mitigation, Alisdair Williamson KC said Sabat had lived on the margins of society, spending spells behind bars and struggling with his mental health, depression and anxiety.
The sentence is the latest serious case to pass through London’s courts this month. An ex-Hornchurch schoolteacher was convicted of child sex offences ahead of sentencing in November, while a man was arrested after a pensioner was left unconscious following a fight in Dagenham Heathway. In south London, two people were hospitalised after a fight outside a Sainsbury’s in Sydenham.
Sabat will serve at least 17 years and one month before he can be considered for release. Passing sentence, Judge Whitehouse said the killing had inflicted terrible and devastating pain on Ms Nurse’s family.
