Sackett used his hands and clothing to strangle Jessie A man with learning difficulties has been convicted of raping and murdering a 16-year-old girl in north London.
Zakk Sackett, 20, sexually assaulted and strangled Jessie Wright before dumping her body in an alley behind the flats where he lived in Islington.
The court heard he became obsessed with his friend Jessie and attacked her in March 2010 while high on cannabis.
Sackett told the Old Bailey she consented to sex but died accidentally after he got her in a head-lock.
Identified as a vulnerable defendant Sackett, of Outram Place, sat behind screens during the trial “to allay his fears about being seen by people in the public gallery”.
In the later stages of the trial he chose not to go into the court and refused to go in the dock as the jury delivered a unanimous verdict.
During the trial jurors heard he raped Jessie in a parking bay and used his hands and clothing to strangle her.
He then dragged her body to a footpath next to the flats where he lived with his grandmother, hauled Jessie over a wall and dropped her 15ft (4.5m) to the ground.
Jessie’s body was discovered the next day, partially covered with a piece of wood with her top pulled up and some of her clothes scattered around the area.
Tests showed she had injuries to her arms and hands and had died from compression to the neck.
Zakk Sackett had been in trouble in the past for assault and battery Sackett told jurors he would never harm Jessie, and that she was a “lovely girl” whom he still thought about, adding: “I have not got a bad bone in my body.”
His defence claimed the reason for dumping her body, selling her phone and later lying to police about what happened was that he was in a panic.
But prosecutors said Jessie was killed in the course of being raped by the defendant.
Her parents paid tribute to their “beautiful, loving girl” in victim impact statements read to the court.
Jessie’s father Anthony said: “She had a bubbly personality and anyone who had the honour of having her in their life loved her.
“She was an intelligent girl who would have had a bright future in front of her.
“We will never be able to come to terms with losing Jessie in this terrible way.”
Jurors were told Sackett’s parents died when he was an infant and he had been in trouble in the past for assault and battery as well as threatening behaviour.
He is due to be sentenced later.
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