A man with a history of violence has admitted murdering his former partner days after his early release from prison under the SDS40 scheme.
The 60-year-old pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to the murder of Dickiesha Nurse, 42, a mother of two. The killing took place in October 2025 in Tulse Hill, south London.
The court heard that he had been held on remand at HMP Wandsworth from May 2025. On 16 October 2025 he received a 12-month sentence for possession of a knife and harassment.
The Labour Government introduced SDS40 to ease prison crowding. Under the scheme, he had to serve only 40 per cent of his sentence. Because of the time he had already spent on remand, he walked free the next day, 17 October.
After his release, he went to see Ms Nurse. On 22 October, she said to a neighbour that he was at her home with her and would not leave. The next day, people saw her in the street shouting at him to get out.
Neighbours heard a scream on 24 October. CCTV captured Ms Nurse the following day. On 26 October, her children could not get a reply at her home. Her family called the police on 27 October because she was not answering her phone.
Officers went to the house and found her body, with the man also inside. He told them: “I’m a murderer, I don’t want to come back out, I wanna go to jail … I’ve been let out a week.” He also said he was happy in prison and wanted to go back.
Ms Nurse lay on a bed with a pillow over her face and several stab wounds to her face, and was pronounced dead at the scene. A post-mortem examination later recorded about eight stab wounds, among them injuries to her neck, her hands and the left side of her face.
The Crown Prosecution Service said the defendant had convictions going back to 1987. They included burglary, assault, wounding with intent, knife possession and harassment of a former partner.
In 2013 he became subject to a non-molestation order in favour of a former partner. In August 2023 he received a restraining order after his acquittal on a charge of attempted murder. The complainant in that case, his landlady, had not attended court.
