A woman whose best friend was murdered by her evil ex-partner is on a mission to stop others from being the victims of domestic abuse.
Kileo Mbega murdered Sarah Henshaw at their flat in Leeds. She was 40 at the time and the 32-year-old was jailed for life for the horrific killing in 2019.
Mbega killed Sarah after she confronted him about using her bank card without permission. He attacked her with a claw hammer and strangled her as they slept.
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The pair had split up two months prior to his attack on her, but Sarah continued to live at the flat they shared after he made theats to take his own life. Sarah's death absolutely devastated her best friend Julia McKee and she said she feels "guilty" that she "couldn't stop it from happening".
“I knew Sarah was in a bad relationship, but I never saw it coming," she told Mirror Online. “Sarah was working with people in abusive relationships day in, day out. She was absolutely brilliant.
“And yet this happened to her. That has been the biggest learning curve. It can happen to anybody. And it’s not just their life that is taken away – it’s the people who loved them too. Our lives will never be the same.”
Mbega and Sarah began dating in 2016. They first met in 2004 after doing charity work in his home country of Tanzania.
Julia met Sarah at work as a newly qualified child protection social worker in 2000. She admired Sarah's life long ambition to selflessly help others and now instead of feeling "anger" towards what happened, she wants to "absolutely everything I can to help other women".
“Sarah was not a survivor and I will keep on telling her story in the hope that it saves other women," Julia said. “The message I have is to be aware of what the signs are – because I couldn’t see them and they were right there in front of me.”
Research by Dr Jane Monckton has revealed an eight-stage pattern of controlling behaviour in more than 370 domestic killings in the UK. Mum-of-two Julia, from Buckinghamshire, is keen to spread the word about what to look out for.
She said: “Sarah went through every single stage before her death. If I had been able to tell her about this research, she might have started to think differently.”
Through fundraising, Julia, who is a keen runner, has raised more than £27,000 for charity. In 2021, she ran a half marathon every month and in September, she plans to tackle the Great North Run in a bid to raise awareness of domestic abuse.
Julia, deputy manager of a fostering team, said: “Saving other women like Sarah… that’s my purpose in life now. Sarah might be gone but through my running, I want to keep her memory alive.”
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