First picture of ‘sweet and loving’ Christina Abbotts, 29, found bludgeoned to death in Crawley as man appears in court for her murder
Christina Abbotts, 29, was found dead at a flat in Crawley, West Sussex, on Friday night
THIS is the first picture of a "sweet and loving" woman found bludgeoned to death in her bed after failing to turn up for her own birthday party.
Christina Abbotts, 29, was found dead at a flat in Crawley, West Sussex, on Friday night.
Her devastated family have now paid tribute to their "sweet loving daughter and best friend" who studied at Oxford and Cirencester.
A heartbreaking statement said: "This independent lady, a much travelled person was taken from us far too early.
"Her friends in London and parts of the UK will also be grieving.
"The light in our life is now extinguished. Love forever from our family."
Zahid Naseem, 47, from Amersham, Bucks, appeared at Brighton Magistrates' Court today charged with Christine's murder.
Dressed in a grey tracksuit, he spoke only to confirm his name, age and address and was remanded in custody to appear at Lewes Crown Court on Wednesday.
Christina's body was discovered by her dad after concerned friends raised the alarm when she didn't arrive at the London hotel to celebrate her birthday.
The preliminary cause of death from a post-mortem examination is blunt force trauma to the head, a police spokesman said.
Witnesses told how police "flooded" into the street shortly after 10.30pm on Friday.
Detectives are appealing for anyone with any information about the killing or to any suspicious events leading up to it to call the police immediately.
Deliveroo driver Aaron Harvey, 24, who lives in a nearby block of flats, said he spoke to her father last night.
He said: “This man came over, saying he had been looking for his blonde 28-year-old daughter and had I seen her.
"He said no-one had heard from her for about 10 hours and he was worried.
"He said it was her birthday and she had booked a hotel in London to celebrate with friends but never turned up."
According to Mr Harvey, the man - who said he was Mauritian - had been looking for his daughter for about an hour but had no response when he knocked on the door of the flat or any others nearby.
He said: "I felt sorry for him, he was panicking. I said I had seen a blonde girl who didn't live here quite a bit recently but I didn't know her. I hadn't seen her that day.”
One neighbour, who did not want to be named, said: "The police and an ambulance arrived in the street at about 10.30pm last night and we knew straight away that something bad had happened.
“One of my neighbours said that she saw a man being led away from the house by police. He was obviously under arrest."
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Detective Chief Inspector Emma Heater said: "We are supporting Christina's family, who aren't local to Crawley, at this very distressing time. They have asked for privacy while they start to grieve.
"We are investigating the circumstances of her death and are keen to hear from anyone who might have seen or heard anything which might help with our investigation.
"Please speak to us in confidence with any information, however small."
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