Police appeal over pregnant Sandra Mujuru
Jan 3 2009 by Dave Black, The Journal
A HEAVILY-PREGNANT woman whose boyfriend murdered a previous child has gone missing. Northumbria Police are urgently trying to trace Sandra Mujuru, 23, who went missing from her home in Seaton Delaval around the time she was due to give birth.
Last night they issued an appeal for help to track down Ms Mujuru, who is described as a high-risk missing person.
The Zimbabwean national, who moved to the North East from London last summer, was due to give birth to her baby on Christmas Day. She was reported missing from her home in Kearsley Close on Monday, December 29, after being last seen by a neighbour the previous day.
In 2006 Ms Mujuru was convicted by an Old Bailey jury after denying causing or allowing the death of her four-month-old daughter Ayesha. Her live-in partner Jerry Stephens, 37, of New Malden, south London, was found guilty of battering the little girl to death and jailed for life.
Ms Mujuru was also found guilty of child cruelty in failing to get medical assistance for Ayesha. She was later given a two-year community order.
The judge in the case said Ms Mujuru had not intended to harm the child, but had been caught in a vulnerable position.
Speaking as he passed sentence, Judge Christopher Moss told her: You were a decent young woman who was caught in a vulnerable position. You simply did not know which way to turn.
You were a young woman who loved her child very much indeed and would have been highly unlikely to have harmed her.
Ms Mujurus recent disappearance from Seaton Delaval came to light after she failed to keep an appointment with social services officials.
Police are making a number of inquiries in a bid to trace her, including monitoring transport links and checking CCTV footage. House-to-house inquiries are also being carried out in the area around her home address.
Ms Mujuru moved to Seaton Delaval after previously living in the Tottenham area of London and also has connections with the Ilford area of the capital. Officers are making inquiries in both of those areas in a bid to find her.
Her partner, with whom she was living in Seaton Delaval, has been traced by police to London, but she was not with him.
Last night Acting Supt Rob Coulson, of the Northumberland Area Command, said: We are doing everything we can to find Sandra and have extensive, ongoing inquiries both within the UK and abroad.
We have great concern for her as she is either very heavily pregnant, or has with her a newborn baby.
We have no information to suggest she has sought any medical treatment. Our aim here is to ensure the safety of Sandra and, most importantly, her baby.
All her family ties are in the London area, but we cant dismiss the fact that she could still be in the North East.
Were currently trying to piece together Sandras last movements, to find out information about her background, lifestyle and family, and wed urge anyone with information which could help the inquiry to contact us as soon as possible.
Ms Mujuru is of Afro-Caribbean appearance, with brown hair and brown eyes. Anyone who has seen her since December 28, or who has any information about where she might be, is asked to contact police on (0345) 604-3043.
