THE man accused over the death of a woman whose body was found below a footbridge over the Coventry ring road has admitted killing her.
Yonas Beraki, 32, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty at Birmingham Crown Court to the murder of Genet Kidane, who died after plunging from the footbridge on January 12.
The 41-year-old Eritrean, who had a grown-up daughter, had been on her way to work as a cleaner at Primark at the time of the incident at 6.50 in the morning.
Her body was found lying on the ring road below the Canal Basin footbridge, with Beraki also in the road nearby with serious back and leg injuries.
Genet Kidane died after falling from a footbridge over the city's ring road.
Genet, who lived at Samuel Vale House in St Nicholas Street, Radford, Coventry, was certified dead at the scene, and Beraki was taken to hospital where he was kept under police guard.
During several court appearances since his discharge from hospital and his arrest, Beraki has had proceedings translated for him into Tigrinya – a language spoken in Eritrea and Ethiopia.
At a hearing in August Mark Wall QC, defending, said that Beraki could be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of experiences in Africa before coming to this country.
But despite that, after psychiatric reports had been prepared, it was expected he would be deemed mentally fit to enter a plea to the murder charge.
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After Beraki had entered his guilty plea, Mr Wall said the court could go on to sentence him – but there would be a problem in doing so.
He pointed out that some members of Genet’s family were at court, but not all of them, and some of them also needed the assistance of an interpreter to follow the proceedings and there was not one available at the court.
So Judge James Burbidge QC adjourned the case and remanded Beraki in custody until November 2, when he will be sentenced at Coventry Crown Court.
Source: coventryobserver.co.uk
