Guess that makes it ok then right... Jesus forgives him, and his sins are washed away, hallelujah!!

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Praying murderer jailed for life

A man overheard praying for forgiveness after murdering his pregnant girlfriend's mother has been jailed for life by a judge at the Old Bailey.

George Maben, 45, from Rosehill, Surrey, strangled 65-year-old widow Maureen Cosgrove at her home in Carshalton, south London, in March.

Maben was arrested after police bugged his car and heard him say: "God, forgive me for what I have done."

He must serve a minimum of 13 years in jail after being found guilty.

The court heard Maben previously argued with Mrs Cosgrove, whose daughter Lucy Rees, 34, had been expecting Maben's baby at the time of the killing.

Covert device

Mrs Cosgrove was asphyxiated with a ligature in her kitchen after arriving home from the dentist on 24 March.

Earlier that day, Maben was filmed on CCTV taking a bus from his mother's home to Mrs Cosgrove's home and putting on gloves during the journey, the court heard.

Fibres from Mrs Cosgrove's clothing were found on clothes Maben had been wearing.

Police subsequently placed a covert listening device in a Ford Focus used by Maben and, on 9 April, he was recorded praying out loud.

Maureen Cosgrove
Mabin argued with Mrs Cosgrove, her daughter told the court

In the recording, Maben said: "Please God, help me... for me and Lucy eliminated from all police inquiries and everything's all right, please God help me.

"I just could not take it any more. Every single day, she was breaking me down. Please God will you forgive me? Please God, sorry."

Prosecuting, Anthony Glass QC said Mr Maben's words "could and should be interpreted as a confession to murder".

Lucy Rees told the court her mother and Maben had argued but "got on OK".

Asked about Maben's prayer, Lucy Rees told the court: "He said to me he had prayed to God for forgiveness because he had taken £50 from his mother's handbag.

"He said he had never stolen anything from her handbag before but he was low because he was out of work and didn't have any money."

     
We have lost a loving mother and grandmother in a particularly horrific way
John Cosgrove, Mrs Cosgrove's son

Judge Jeremy Roberts said he was reducing the term which might have been expected from a pre-meditated murder because it was out of character and because Maben had been under pressure.

Nevertheless, the judge did not want anything he said to be interpreted as criticism of Mrs Cosgrove, who was the innocent victim of the crime.

He added: "It was no-one's fault that the situation developed where your relationship with Lucy, whom you loved deeply, and her mother, whom you must have seen as a obstacle, drove you to such an act of desperation."

In a statement to the judge, Mrs Cosgrove's son John said: "We have lost a loving mother and grandmother in a particularly horrific way."

Source: BBC

Allahu Akbar was also reported as the chant of the perpetrator of the latest atrocity in the US.

Muslim US soldier Major Nidal Malik Hasan, who shot and killed 13 people, including a pregnant woman, was reported to be repeating the same sick mantra we hear from religious nuts of the Islamic persuasion as they commit murder in their god's name.

Gotta respect religion??

Not in my lifetime.

I agree, and my personal distaste for religion does come across as extreme, I know, but when I see the actual results of religious indoctrination on tiny children, it does make me despair for them ever being allowed to develop, or find, a personal spirituality that could be of real value in their lives, rather than just being blindly indoctrinated into espousing the same fears and prejudices that their parents do, via their birth religions.

Contrary to the belief that atheists are without any spirituality in their lives, I tend to think that often they have more, because they are allowed to be truly open to the myriad wonders and beauty that this life of ours can offer, without feeling constricted by preconceived notions of worth, attributed to our existence, which so many religions drum into their followers.

Too young to drink, drive, marry, or fight?
Too young to be brainwashed with religious hogwash!

A choice as huge as what you wish your personal spirituality to be, would certainly be better left to adults, who are able to approach the question from an adult perspective, with all the information they need to help them make the choice that is right for them.

So is anyone actually able to comment on the original article? Or does any thread that begins with a post by me just result in an anti-Islamic tirade? I will take that as an indication of your collective ability to debate and defend your viewpoints. ie. you effectively have no ability, other than to point the finger at others.

I wasn't referring to you muso.

Those countries you listed are mostly war zones, and are being occupied or interferred in by superpowers... so you couldn't really include it in the homocide rates.

abu_rashid wrote on Nov 7^th, 2009 at 1:16pm:



His prayers were not considered as a defence. His religion was not considered a defence. In a secular (Christianity for non-believers) society, he wasl not able to hide behind piety, true or faked.

abu_rashid wrote on Nov 7^th, 2009 at 9:53pm:



At least this guy was not shouing 'Allahu Akhbar' while slicing her neck. That is relevant.

On the other hand, sons of Allan routinely call for strength, not forgiveness, whan murdering for the greater glory of Allan.