A jealous boyfriend who brutally murdered a "kind and friendly" 22-year-old woman by viciously stabbing her with a knife during a "savage" and "truly appalling" attack in a Hull street has been jailed for life.

Mateus Johannes wrongly believed that she had been cheating on him with another man and "disrespecting" her.

He assaulted her in her home and later chased her down a street "with murderous intent" in the early hours before grabbing hold of her and twice stabbing her. The knife was left stuck in her chest, Hull Crown Court heard.

Johannes, 29, of no fixed address, admitted murdering Claudia Kambanza and possessing a knife on January 26 last year. At a sentencing hearing he was jailed for life and will officially have to serve a minimum of 23-and-a-half years before he can even be considered for release.

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However, the 376 days that he has been in custody on remand for will be deducted from that. The revised minimum figure was calculated and it was later given to the court as 22 years and about 170 days.

As he left the secure dock to be taken down to the cells, Johannes, who was wearing a white polo-neck jumper, waved to the family of Miss Kambanza as they sat in the public gallery and said: "Sorry."

Rupert Doswell KC, prosecuting, said that the couple, both originally from Namibia in Southern Africa, were in a relationship. They had met in that country and she called him "MJ" and had previously affectionately referred to him as her "cupcake".

She had said: "MJ is my life. I trust him with my life." Johannes wrongly suspected, however, that Miss Kambanza was cheating on him and he secretly accessed her WhatsApp account to try to find evidence of that.

In videos that he filmed, he said that he would make her pay for what she had supposedly done and said: "Women are just f***ing trash."

They had an argument on January 25 last year and Miss Kambanza "blocked" him.

The next day, Johannes travelled from his Peterborough home to Doncaster by train, leaving in a taxi at 1.30am to travel to Hull. He arrived in Hinderwell Street, Hull, at 2.32am and walked to her home.

He went inside the shared house where she lived and she heard and recognised his voice from downstairs after 2.45am. They went to her room, where things were thrown at the wall and he attacked her, causing injury and bleeding.

Claudia Kambanza, 22, died after suffering stab wounds in Hinderwell Street, Hull
Claudia Kambanza, 22, died after suffering stab wounds in Hinderwell Street, Hull 

Miss Kambanza left the house and ran down Hinderwell Street, shouting: "Help me. Please help me." Johannes chased her, caught up with her and grabbed hold of her.

He shouted: "Tell me the name" – a reference to wanting to know the name of the man that she was supposedly seeing. He hit her with a clenched fist and twice stabbed her with a knife.

"She dropped to the floor," said Mr Doswell. Johannes stamped on her while she was lying on the ground. He fled up Princes Avenue. "She was found lying on the floor, her face covered in blood," said Mr Doswell.

Miss Kambanza had been stabbed in the stomach and in the chest. The handle of the knife broke off and one of the wounds penetrated her stomach by 9cm.

"It did not appear that she was aware that she had been stabbed," said Mr Doswell. Miss Kambanza later tried to pull the blade out herself but a man on the scene told her not to do so.

Johannes returned briefly to the area as though he was looking to see what he had done. He "turned and disappeared" but he later told a friend: "I was fighting with my girlfriend and I stabbed her, bro. She started cheating, bro, and disrespecting me."

He telephoned the police and told them: "I was fighting with my girlfriend and stabbed her." When the police and ambulance service arrived, the knife blade was still sticking out 3 to 5cm from Miss Kambanza's chest.

She kept repeating: "Johannes 1995" – a reference to the year that he was born. Miss Kambanza was still conscious and she was able to confirm her name but she was struggling to breathe and suffered a cardiac arrest.

She had emergency surgery in hospital but her abdomen had filled with blood. The knife was removed from her chest and she was given blood transfusions but she died at 4.40am that day.

Johannes made no comment to all questions during police interview but he later said in a statement that he and Miss Kambanza had been arguing over messages that she had sent to another man. Voices had told him to stab her and to kill himself. No psychiatric defence had, however, been put forward for him.

"There was a significant degree of planning and premeditation to this offence," said Mr Doswell. Johannes broke into Miss Kambanza's WhatsApp account and he was intent on making her pay for her perceived infidelity.

It was "unfounded jealousy" over his belief that she had been cheating on him. His only previous conviction was for travelling on a train without paying.

Clive Stockwell KC, mitigating, said of the Kambanza family's loss: "They have had their daughter taken from them in the crudest of circumstances by the cruelty of this defendant.

"That undoubtedly has created a void in their lives, which is understandable. He does apologise for what he has done. He has written a letter to the Kambanza family."

Part of the letter read: "I am writing this from the bottom of my heart. I know what I have done and have accepted my action to what I have caused in the Kambanza family. Please forgive me.

"I can imagine the pain you guys are going through. I keep thinking about Claudia each and every day and I can imagine you guys. Rest in peace."

The stabbing was a continuation of what Johannes did in Miss Kambanza's room. "These were two motions outside with the knife," said Mr Stockwell.

"This was something that occurred on the spur of the moment in the heat of what was taking place in that flat continuing outside."

High Court judge Mr Justice Cotter said that Johannes "brutally" stabbed Miss Kambanza twice during a "truly appalling act of violence" resulting from his "misguided belief that she had been unfaithful or was seeking attention from other men".

Miss Kambanza came to this country in August 2022 and she had studied at Hull College. She was described by her mother as kind, friendly, hardworking and dependable and her aim was to qualify as a chartered accountant.

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Her death had caused "terrible and unimaginable pain" to her family and her loss weighed heavily on her mother and three siblings. "They now face a life sentence of grief and no release date," said Mr Justice Cotter.

"The impact on her whole family has been huge." Miss Kambanza had no idea that Johannes was travelling to Hull that night. He did so because he suspected that she was having an affair.

"You were wholly wrong," said Mr Justice Cotter. "Even if she had decided to end the relationship, that was her right – and free from any violence or intimidation.

"You caught and grabbed her and could be heard shouting: 'Tell me his name'. You hit and threw her to the floor and stabbed her with the knife that you had brought from the property.

"You stabbed her with so much force that the knife handle had broken off. You left Miss Kambanza to die. She was clearly in pain. The knife was still inside her body.

"The emergency services couldn't save her life. You had murderous intent when you chased Miss Kambanza down the street."

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