An evil thug who strangled his partner and then set fire to a car containing her body has been sent to a secure hospital indefinitely.

Damien Dinobewei with girlfriend Tia

Unemployed Damien Dinobewei, 34, killed tragic Tia Kounota, 27, when he was in a “florid” state after he stopped taking medication for his paranoid schizophrenia.

A court heard he punched and strangled his lover before driving her corpse around in her pink Audi which he eventually set fire to.

Dinobewei, of Stirchley, Birmingham, admitted a charge of manslaughter at an earlier hearing.

And he was sent to a secure hospital indefinitely when he was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court on June 26.

Judge James Burbidge QC said: “Whatever was the spark or cause of the disagreement ultimately does not matter.

“You launched an attack upon her, albeit that no bones were broken, with sufficient ferocity to render her unconscious.

“Mercifully it appears, because of the lack of carbon monoxide in her lungs, she was dead before you carried out this dreadful act.”

“The most significant aggravating feature is you attempt to dispose of the body as you did. This was a gross defilement.”

Friends of Miss Kounota, who had a seven-year-old daughter and was training to be a social worker at Birmingham City University, reacted with anger at the sentence.

Tia was mum to a seven year old daughter

Ellis New said: “The guy wants releasing from custody with all of Tia’s friends and family informed of the date and let us decide his punishment.

“He stole a friend, a mother, a daughter, a sister, an aunty and he gets kept in a very comfy secure unit.

“What a joke. Miss you every day Tia.”

The court heard Miss Kounota had been in a relationship with Dinobewei for several years but he could be “volatile and controlling towards her”.

She was living at a friend’s house in Halesowen, West Mids., when she arranged to meet her lover on July 22 last year.

Prosecutor Mark Heywood told the court neighbours heard screams and saw Dinobewei pushing Miss Kounota into her pink Audi.

He added: “She saw a muscular man dragging a woman by her hair and punching her repeatedly.

“Tia was screaming very loudly and appeared really distressed.”

The court heard Dinobewei sped off and was spotted at a number of locations as he bought petrol at a garage and drove towards the city centre.

He finally parked the Audi in Erdington, Birmingham, where witnesses saw him get out carrying a petrol can.

Damien Dinobewei has been given an indefinite hospital order

Mr Heywood added: “He started to do something that they could not clearly see behind the driver’s door.

“Moments later the car burst into flames and the defendant made his way off.”

Mr Heywood said firefighters only discovered Miss Kounota’s body after they put out the blaze because it had been “inverted” in the vehicle with her head resting in the foot well.

He said the likely cause of death was blunt force trauma, with compression of the neck, but she may have survived for up to 30 minutes before she died.

David Crigman QC, defending, said: “They had a row which degenerated into a physical struggle.

“He punched her and held her in the area of the neck. She must have lost consciousness.

“Instead of trying to save her he panicked and drove off and made a crude attempt to save himself.”

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