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Leeds girl murdered by convicted rapist, court hears
A sex offender brutally sexually assaulted and murdered his 14-year-old neighbour before going on a day trip to Blackpool Pleasure Beach, a jury heard.
Jobless Michael Clarke, 39, left Zuzanna Zommer partially naked with a slit throat and fractured skull on the floor of her parents' bedroom before attempting to use his seaside trip as an alibi.
A court heard how Zuzanna had only moved into the home in Leeds weeks earlier with her family from Poland when she was victim of the horrendous attack on October 1 last year.
She had been playing on a laptop computer game at her home on Compton Row, when next-door-but-one neighbour Clarke is alleged to have carried out the attack.
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Adrian Waterman QC prosecuting told Sheffield Crown Court how Zuzanna and parents, Robert and Matgorzarta had earlier walked her younger brother Mikotej to his first day at school.
She was then left alone at home while her mum and dad went into Leeds to find work.
But when they returned later that afternoon they discovered Zuzanna's lifeless body in a pool of blood. There were serious cuts to her neck, her face was covered in blood and her tee-shirt had been pulled up and jeans and underwear removed.
A post mortem later revealed a stab wound to her abdomen and a skull fracture consistent with being stamped upon as she lay on the floor.
Mr Waterman said: "She had been subjected to a brutal sexual assault and she had been deliberately killed."
Clarke, was immediately identified as a suspect after her parents had already had their own concerns about him. The family had initially been friendly with Clarke when they moved into the property and even invited him to a family barbecue.
But Mr and Mrs Zommer became weary of his strange and inappropriate behaviour. On one occasion he was asked to leave their home after walking into their house without being invited. He had also bought a cat after he discovered Zuzanna was fond of the animals.
Clarke was arrested around 11pm the same evening as he returned to his home from Blackpool. A trace of blood found in the cellar door frame of his home was found to match Zuzanna's. A badly bent knife was recovered from the sink and another weapon was found in the bin.
A pair of boxer shorts was also found to contain a trace of blood which matched Zuzanna's along with a blood spattered Kappa sports top in his bedroom.
Mr Waterman said Clarke denied involvement and tried to use his trip to Blackpool as an alibi. But he refused to co-operate with police in later interviews as the forensic evidence began to build up against him.
Clarke was seen on cctv at his local post office around 10.45am withdrawing his dole money and his car was also caught on camera as he headed to the coast.
A wristband from the pleasure beach, which he had saved even revealed the rides he had been on during the day. But an examination of Zuzanna's computer showed the last time she had used it was at 10.21am, which the barrister claimed gave him time to carry out the attack.
He told the jury: "You may think that in the face of what confronted her - a grown man armed with knives and a sexual murderous intent - she was defenceless."
He added: "It is the Crown's case that this defendant got blood on his clothing from his attack on the deceased. He changed his boxer shorts before leaving the house and he tried to set up a false alibi."
Clarke denies murder and assault by penetration.
The jury was also told how Clarke had a problem with solvent abuse and had a history of sexual and violent convictions.
In 1991 he served a jail term for rape in which a court heard how he used a banana on his victim during the assault.
In 1996 he assaulted two police officers.
Two years later he was convicted of assault and affray and in 2003 he was convicted of assaulting a prostitute.
Proceeding
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Friday 25 May 2012
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