A "monster" dad who murdered a young mum next to their sleeping baby was today accused of crying crocodile tears.
Nigel Diakite launched a brutal attack on N'Taya Elliott-Cleverley on the day she was moving out because of his domestic violence. He strangled her to death with a skipping rope in bed, while their four-month-old daughter was in a cot next to them.
Diakite, 19, claimed he couldn't remember carrying out the killing at their Wavertree home - despite confessing to it afterwards. The teenager blamed mental health problems and even accused his 20-year-old victim of assaulting him.
READ MORE: Live updates as Nigel Diakite sentenced for killing his baby's mum N'Taya Elliott-Cleverley
A jury unanimously found him guilty of murder and he was today locked up for life with a minimum of 19 years. Diakite held a tissue to his eyes in the dock at Liverpool Crown Court, as he had done during the trial.
But as she fought back tears herself, the victim's mother, Deborah Cleverley, accused the killer of faking it. She referenced a voicemail Diakite sent a friend asking for money - in which his injured victim could be heard breathing heavily, shortly before he strangled her.
Ms Cleverley said: "To sit in court and listen to the fact that my defenceless little girl sustained over 50 separate injuries whilst she was just trying to go to sleep for the night with the excitement of starting her new life within a few hours just kills me inside. The fact that he punched my little N'Taya once, never mind repeatedly, but then to make a voice note whilst my little girl was struggling to breathe. That sound, of my little girl, will never leave me.
"He did nothing to help her, he should have been phoning for help, but instead he was using N'Taya's phone to save his own skin, making plans to escape his actions and was thinking about no one but himself. To then go on and use a skipping rope to make sure that she took her last breath, all whilst her precious baby was next to him, sleeping peacefully. It's just sheer evil."
Diakite destroyed his partner's mobile phone, robbing her family of all the photos and memories contained on the device, after the attack in the early hours of Friday, January 29, 2021. The grieving grandmother said: "It has been so hard to listen to him and all the lies that he has told about N'Taya.
"He has shown no reaction at all when N'Taya's name or our sweet precious granddaughter's name has been mentioned, it has all been about him. I have sat and watched him as he wiped his fake tears away, feeling sorry for himself and the effects this has had on his life.
"I have found him rude and obnoxious throughout the trial. He has not shown one ounce of remorse for his vile actions."
Evidence showed Miss Elliott-Cleverley was strangled with a ligature and detectives found a bloodstained skipping rope "concealed beneath a bin bag" at their Prince Alfred Road property. The victim was discovered by Diakite's support worker, Celia Cole, who he rang after the killing, leaving a message saying "sorry for everything".
When Ms Cole rang back, he claimed Miss Elliott-Cleverley had gone to her mum's house and left him with the baby, before claiming she had "beat him". Ms Cole and worried neighbours found Miss Elliott-Cleverley's body in a pool of blood.
Diakite, also known as Mohammed Diakite, travelled in a taxi to Liverpool One Bus Station, on the way making a phone call to his friend Ismael Donzo. Mr Donzo - today commended by a top judge - recorded the conversation, in which Diakite confessed and said he had beat his partner, then decided to "finish it".
Diakite was previously accused by Miss Elliott-Cleverley of assaulting her on October 6, 2020, just two weeks after their baby was born. In police bodycam footage, she told officers he put his fingers down her mouth and bruised her left arm by grabbing it.
Miss Elliott-Cleverley made a retraction statement a day later, in which she said her allegations were true, but she no longer wished to support a prosecution because it was "too much for me to cope with". The mum said she just wanted to concentrate on her baby, had put a deposit down for a new property, and intended to move there alone. Just hours before her murder, she was texting her mother about moving arrangements.
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Ian Unsworth, QC, prosecuting, today read a heartbreaking statement from Joseph Elliott, the victim’s father. He said: "Knowing that I will never see N'Taya again, never be able to see her smile, or hear her laughing, it is killing me inside."
Mr Elliott said his daughter had "her whole life in front of her" and was a "devoted mummy". He said: "She loved her job working in the nursery with children and was overjoyed when she found out she was going to be a mummy herself. She was so excited, buying things for the baby before she was born."
The court heard she was about to start driving lessons and was "so excited" about moving into her new home - sharing videos of the rooms with her father - but she and her baby "never got to move into their happy place". Mr Elliott said: "My world has been destroyed by what that monster has done to my daughter and my life will never be the same again."
The father said he was so proud of his daughter, who "would do anything for anyone and would always see the good in people" and how she was "always laughing and joking" and "had so much to live for". He said: "We are all living a nightmare without our N'Taya, the pain is never going to stop, he has destroyed our lives. He has taken our angel away from us and I miss her so much.”
Richard Pratt, QC, defending, asked the judge to take into account his client's age and "psychiatric history". The asylum seeker, from the Ivory Coast, was on medication for depression and when seen by doctors immediately after the killing, was thought to have symptoms consistent with PTSD. However, he was not found to be psychotic at the time of the murder.
A month after the killing he was diagnosed as" acutely psychotic" and in April 2021 was transferred to the Spinney mental health hospital. In January 2022 he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.
High Court judge Mr Justice Stephen Morris said he was sure Diakite had intended to kill his victim. He told him: "N'Taya must have been not only terrified by her own ordeal, but also tormented by the fact that this was all happening with her baby daughter sleeping in the cot beside her."
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Justice Morris said the use of the skipping rope was a serious aggravating factor, as was the "mental and physical suffering inflicted", evidenced by her "heavy breathing" on the recording, and the presence of her daughter. He said it was a "ferocious" attack in Miss Elliott-Cleverley's own home, her young baby was beside the bed, and there was "a background of previous domestic violence".
Families Fighting for Justice is a peer support group for families bereaved by homicide.
It runs The Hub, in Anson Street, off Prescot Street near the Royal Liverpool Hospital, which is a drop-in centre with information and support under one roof.
The charity understands the issues affecting a victim's family of homicide or culpable road death and can offer advice and guidance, referral to a network of providers, counselling services, support through the judicial process and more.
For more details on The Hub visit: www.homicidesupporthub.org
