Guilty verdict for Zahwa Mukhtar’s murderer, Duane Owusu

A man nicknamed “Nasty” has been convicted of murder for delivering the blow that killed “bright” and “bubbly” Zahwa Mukhtar, 27, on a night out. Duane Owusu, 36, pleaded not guilty to both murder and manslaughter, claiming he shoved Zahwa with an open hand rather than a clenched fist and didn’t mean to hurt her.

He told jurors he acted in defence of other women they were with after several altercations between them and Zahwa on a car journey from Stoke Newington, east London, towards Dagenham last August.

Meanwhile,the prosecution called Owusu’s “assault” an “act of pure aggression”.

The jury sided with the prosecution returning an unanimous guilty verdict for murder after nearly 12 hours, following a two-week trial at The Old Bailey.

Detective Chief Inspector Phil Clarke, from Specialist Crime North, said:

Our thoughts today are with Zahwa’s family, who have demonstrated great dignity and patience after losing their daughter in such horrendous circumstances.

CCTV footage collected by the investigation team painted a damning picture of Owusu’s guilt. The evidence revealed him to be a remorseless killer, who acted with callous disregard towards his victim.

Zahwa suffered unsurvivable head injuries, the court heard.

Summarising the evidence, Judge Richard Marks KC described how Zahwa was struck by Owusu at the side of her neck “his arm coming almost in line with his head”.

He said:

She fell backwards on the ground, landing on her back, her arms flailing, making no attempt to break her fall.

She suffered a fractured skull and a bleed on the brain “which led to her tragic and untimely death”, Judge Marks said.

He went on to say the “traumatic brain injury” Zahwa sustained would not have been “survivable”, according to expert medical evidence given in the trial.

Zahwa Mukhtar was “kind and loving”

Known as “Zee” within east London’s Deaf community, Zahwa was a much-loved member of Hackney Deaf Club and a keen volunteer, including at Glastonbury music festival.

She became deaf in one ear after contracting meningitis at age three.

Henrietta Paget KC, prosecuting, described the financial assistant as “bright, bubbly, enthusiastic and very eager to learn”, during the opening of the murder trial.

A statement released by her “heartbroken” family last year said: “Zahwa was a kind and loving person with high aspirations in life and her presence brought warmth to those around her.

“She was dearly loved by her family and friends.”

In the early hours of Saturday 16 August 2025, Zahwa was killed outside Chadwell House care home by a single strike to the neck.

Once police officers had finished a nearly hour-long stop and search of Owusu and his five friends nearby, Zahwa was eventually found unresponsive at 5.31am.

Passersby who alerted police thought she was either drunk or had fallen asleep. Zahwa was pronounced dead at the scene within an hour of being discovered.

Speaking to Owusu, Ms Paget said:

You had lost your temper with Ms Mukhtar and was intent on giving her a beating. You kicked her and the second kick was aimed at her face. You missed because Ms Winter had arrived.

I suggest you were out of control and you wanted to do Ms Mukhtar some real damage. I suggest that your actions on that video had nothing to do with defending yourself or anybody else. This assault was an act of pure aggression.

How the night unfolded

Zahwa Mukhtar happened to meet Owusu and his group in Hackney a few hours earlier when the Mercedes he was in pulled into Palatine Road, near The Pubb. They continued to socialise in the street, taking nitrous oxide using balloons. The witnesses had taken other drugs that night, such as ecstasy, and had been drinking alcohol.

A toxicology report found Zahwa was two-times the legal drink driving limit when she died, which is 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood, and there was a small amount of cocaine in her blood.

Despite objections from best friends, Paige Allen and Abigail Winter, Zahwa got into the overcrowded car going back to Dagenham.

Fights erupted between all three women and verbal insults were exchanged. Tensions spilled outside of the car once before in Chadwell Heath before stopping outside the care home.

Inside the vehicle, Zahwa had allegedly threatened to harm the women and was seen scrolling through her contacts. Owusu started to think “the worst”, he told jurors when giving evidence.

Then Zahwa started filming from the back of the car. The video lasted just a few seconds.

Judge Marks said:

Ms Mukhtar started the video function on her mobile phone to which others in the car took exception and it was that, you may think, which finally triggered the tragic events which then rapidly unfolded.

Owusu demanded Zahwa leave the parked car and threw out her phone as bait so she’d leave. She refused and gripped on to his clothes, the court heard.

The judge continued:

She then ended up outside the car through the rear passenger door, ending up on her bottom…There followed two kicks from the defendant. The first as he’s in the process of getting out of the vehicle, followed by the second

Ms Paget rubbished Owusu’s claims that Zahwa fell from his lap instead of being pushed or he tried to sweep her legs away from the Mercedes rather than stamping down at her.

She stated Owusu had launched a “callous attack” and showed Zahwa “utter contempt”.

Owusu, of Althorne Way, Dagenham, will be sentenced on 12 March.

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