Migrant who killed his ex with a skewer in front of her children should have been kicked

A murder victim’s family have told of their fury after discovering her killer was an illegal immigrant who should have been deported 20 years ago.

Zimbabwe-born Obert Moyo, 46, had been able to stay in this country despite three previous attacks on women.

He was jailed for life last week with a minimum term of 27 years for stabbing his former partner Perseverance Ncube, 35, through the heart with a foot-long meat skewer in front of her children aged ten and 12.

As he was sentenced, it emerged that jealous Moyo had overstayed on his visa in the early 2000s and went on to commit crimes against women prior to the murder in Salford.

Ms Ncube was an Avon lady known as Percy. Her sister Christine Chiriseri, 28, said the family only discovered the killer was an illegal immigrant after his arrest.

Obert Moyo, 46, stabbed his former partner Perseverance Ncube, 35, through the heart with a foot-long meat skewer in front of her children aged ten and 12

Zimbabwe-born Moyo has been jailed for 27 years. After his conviction it emerged he had overstayed his visa and had committed other serious crimes against women prior to the murder in Salford

She added: ‘I was very angry and upset because all of this tragedy could have been avoided if people had done their jobs properly.

‘We all felt very let down by the Home Office and the people who should have made sure he was deported.’

Ms Chiriseri, who is taking care of the children, said: ‘I am reeling over everything that has happened.

‘I am trying to move on from the whole situation but I still have to process and understand what happened.

‘I still feel very angry. It was a short-term relationship and it cost my sister her life.’ Moyo, who admitted murder, had been convicted of harassing women in 2007 and 2009, with the latter leading to a six-month sentence. 

In 2013, he was jailed for ten years with an extended licence for attacking another ex-partner in Brighton.

The victim was working at a care home when Moyo broke in through a window by unscrewing it and burning it with a blowtorch.

Once inside and armed with numerous weapons including two knives and a screwdriver, he went on to repeatedly punch her, cut her with the knife and strangle her. 

He was convicted of wounding with intent, threats to kill and aggravated burglary.

On his release, instead of deporting him as an ‘overstayer’, the Home Office fitted him with a tag.

The murder trial at Manchester Crown Court heard Moyo failed to tell his probation officer as part of his licence conditions that he had started a new relationship with Ms Ncube, a single mother with jobs as a childminder and a bookkeeper.

Moyo forced his way into Ms Ncube’s home on November 10 last year and attacked her in her bedroom before chasing her into the street and stabbing her.

Detective Sergeant Fiona Manning said: ‘Percy’s family deserves answers as to why this man… was allowed to remain in this country illegally. Had Moyo been deported, Percy’s children would still have a mother.’

A Home Office spokesman said: ‘The Government is doing everything possible to reduce legal challenges and to increase the numbers of foreign national offenders being removed.’