Released Early, Then a Killing: Robert Sabat Jailed for Life Over Tulse Hill Stabbing

A 60-year-old man who murdered his former partner just days after walking free from prison under revised early-release rules has been handed a life sentence, after a court heard he pleaded with police to lock him up again because he intended to embark on a killing spree.

Robert Sabat stabbed Dickiesha Nurse, a 42-year-old mother of two, at her flat in Tulse Hill, south London, in October 2025 — only about a week after he left HMP Wandsworth. Sentencing him at the Old Bailey, the judge imposed a life term with a minimum of 17 years before any possibility of parole.

The case has thrust the government's changes to automatic release dates for prisoners into the spotlight, raising uncomfortable questions about how quickly some offenders are returned to the community and whether risk assessments are keeping pace with the accelerated timetable.

Sabat had been sentenced on 16 October 2025 to a 12-month jail term for possession of a bladed article and for harassing a former partner. He walked out of Wandsworth the following day, having spent time on remand since May 2025. Under the policy in force at that moment, he served 40% of his sentence rather than the previous 50% threshold — a reduction that stemmed directly from a government change to automatic release dates introduced the month before. Last week, the Sentencing Act 2026 replaced that framework, and some prisoners can now be released after serving only a third of their term.

Prosecutor Catherine Farrelly KC told the court that Sabat and Nurse had been in a relationship and had known each other for many years; the defendant had been raised by the victim's father, giving their connection a deep and tangled family history. Two days after his release, Nurse's children visited her flat and, on returning to their own home, mentioned that a "friend or cousin" had been present.

By 22 October, Nurse was telling a neighbour that Sabat was inside her address and refusing to leave. Another neighbour recalled seeing her in the street, shouting: "Get out of my house." Two days later, a neighbour heard a single scream from the direction of the victim's home — a sound that, in hindsight, marked the final moments of her life. Nurse was last captured on CCTV on 25 October. Her children tried to visit the next day, but nobody answered when they knocked.

Concerns mounted, and on 27 October family members raised the alarm. Paramedics entered the flat, where they were confronted by Sabat, who was armed with a knife and charged at one of the crew, the court heard. The London Ambulance Service team and relatives retreated from the property and called police. Armed officers soon forced their way in and used Tasers to subdue and detain Sabat.

Inside, officers discovered Nurse lying on a bed with a pillow over her face and multiple stab wounds to her face. She was pronounced dead at the scene. A post-mortem examination concluded she had suffered around eight stab wounds, including injuries to the left side of her face, her neck and her hands. Police also recovered a knife carrying her blood, a bag marked "HMP valuables" and prison records bearing Sabat's name — items that underscored how recently he had left custody.

When he was arrested on suspicion of the murder, Sabat made a series of extraordinary admissions and demands. He told officers he was a murderer who did not want to be released, saying he wanted to return to jail. He claimed he had killed before and got away with it, asserted that he had murdered three people so far, and warned he was "gonna go on a murder spree". The prosecution said he also described being happy in prison and having done wrong.

In mitigation, Alisdair Williamson KC said Sabat had lived "on the margins" of society, with repeated spells behind bars, and had struggled with mental health problems including depression and anxiety. The court also heard that his criminal record stretched back to 1987 and included convictions for burglary, assault, wounding with intent, knife possession and the harassment of an ex-partner. In 2013 he was made subject to a non-molestation order involving a former partner, and in August 2023 he received a restraining order after being cleared of attempted murder when the complainant — his landlady — failed to attend court.

Victim impact statements laid bare the grief of a family left shattered. Nurse's sister, Samantha Carvalho, described Sabat as a "menace to society" and said the "heartlessness" of the killing was impossible to comprehend. Her mother, Claudette McBean, remembered her daughter as kind and loving, and as the "life and soul of the party".

The facts of the case have renewed scrutiny of the balance between prison capacity pressures and public protection. Successive governments have adjusted release mechanisms in an effort to ease overcrowding, but critics argue that compressing sentences for repeat offenders with histories of violence against women removes the very supervision that keeps victims safe. Sabat's own words to police, in which he described himself as happy in custody and determined not to be freed, will be cited by those who say the system failed to recognise a man who posed an obvious and immediate danger.

For Nurse's family, the sentence closes a legal chapter but cannot restore what was taken. Her children visited her in the days before she died; within a week, the man raised by her own father had killed her in her home. The Old Bailey's verdict ensures Sabat will spend at least 17 years behind bars — ironically, the outcome he told arresting officers he wanted all along.