21 years in jail for man who killed London trans woman

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A man convicted of killing trans woman Destiny Lauren has been sentenced to at least 21 years in prison.

Leon Fyle, 22, was found guilty of Ms Lauren’s murder last month.

He had visited the 29-year-old prostitute for sex at her Kentish Town flat on November 5th 2009 before strangling her with her tights.

Ms Lauren, who was born male, was found dead by her her brother two hours later.

According to the Hampstead and Highgate Express, Fyle, of Catford, was jailed for life yesterday at Snaresbrook crown court.

Judge David Radford told him that he serve at least 21 years before being allowed to apply for parole and said he had “wickedly” and “brutally” ended Ms Lauren’s life.

“It was a vicious and callous act,” he said.

Fyle contacted Ms Lauren through a newspaper advert. While in her flat, he also stole £350 in cash, her mobile phone and jewellery before going to Kings Cross to sleep with two more prostitutes.

Last month, Ms Lauren was described as well-known in Camden, close to her father and two brothers and someone who appreciated “the finer things in life”.

She had suffered several tragedies in her life, including the suicide of her mother in 2005. Her uncle Paul Hill, one of the Guildford Four, served 15 years in prison after being wrongly convicted of involvement in IRA bombings.