Three individuals have been imprisoned for murdering Shakira Spencer, as the Met compiled ample evidence showing the trio subjected the woman from Ealing to torment, torture, starvation, burns, and ultimately fatal beatings.

Ashana Studholme, 39 of Greenhill Road, Harrow; Shaun Pendlebury, 26 of Tewkesbury Road, Ealing, and Lisa Richardson, 45 of Broomcroft Avenue, Ealing, were found guilty of the murder of Shakira Spencer on Monday, 11 December.

All three were jailed for life at the same court on Friday, 1 March.

The trio will each serve a minimum of 34 years, minus time spent on remand (522 days).

They were also each sentenced to five years imprisonment for preventing lawful burial following a 12-week trial at the Old Bailey.

The judge commended the investigating team for their 'diligence' and 'hard work' in such a 'distressing' case.

35-year-old Shakira Spencer from Ealing was a mother of two before her life was taken away in 2022 (credit: Met Police).

In a statement, Shakira's family said: "Shakira was a beautiful soul who cared deeply about people and loved spending time with her family and friends.

"She was always thoughtful and wanted to be liked. Her eagerness to please people made her vulnerable.

"We have struggled as a family to come to terms with the fact that Shakira was controlled, enslaved and tortured by the defendants in the months leading up to her murder.

"The defendants took over her flat whilst she slept in the bike shed. They isolated her from her family and friends.

"Her children were poisoned against her. Shakira's health deteriorated to the point she was almost unrecognisable.

"Her life was reduced to an empty and miserable existence.

"We will never be able to comprehend the defendants' cruelty when Shakira would have only wanted to be their friend.

"We can only think that the defendants have done this for their own sadistic pleasure.

"We were incredibly pleased and relieved when we found out that all three defendants would be held accountable for their heinous crimes.

"However, nothing will bring Shakira back to us and her children will now grow up without their mother."

Ashana Studholme (left), Shaun Pendlebury (middle) and Lisa Richardson (right) have been jailed for the murder of Shakira Spencer (credit: Met Police).

Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Chief Inspector Brian Howie, expressed satisfaction with the lengthy sentences for the three individuals responsible for Shakira Spencer's brutal murder.

Despite acknowledging that no sentence can bring Shakira back.

Howie said: "During the trial Shakira's family and friends listened to deeply traumatising evidence of the depraved acts of cruel torment committed by the three defendants.

"They murdered Shakira in the most savage and inhumane way imaginable."

He added: "The family's ordeal has been compounded by the behaviour of the defendants, who have each lied, providing implausible accounts and explanations to try and absolve themselves of any responsibility.

"Whatever their cruel and sadistic motives were, there is no acceptable explanation for what Shakira was put through."

Timeline of events

Officers were called to Holbeck Road, Ealing at 4:38pm on 25 September 2022 after concerns were raised for the welfare of a woman inside the property.

Police forced entry into the property, and found the body of a woman who was later identified as 35-year-old Shakira Spencer.

Later, at 12:10am, one of Pendlebury's relatives called police to say that he had confessed to being involved in the killing of a woman and that Studholme and Richardson were also involved.

The trio were arrested just hours later and taken into custody.

Shakira, although she had vulnerabilities, had been a happy and healthy woman.

The Met say she had known the three for some time, in what was a complex web of relationships, but in just under a year she had fallen under their complete control.

They stole her self-respect, her children, and her home, took over her finances and controlled her life.

They had subjected her to a prolonged campaign of beatings, enslavement, coercion and control, humiliation and degradation over a period of months.

This culminated in a frenzied, violent assault reaching a climax between 9 and 12 September 2022, from which Shakira most likely died on 14 September 2022 the Met has said.

Instead of taking her to hospital, Pendlebury and Studholme drove Shakira back to her home in the boot of a car and bundled her in a cupboard, leaving her to die.

The moment Pendlebury and Studholme drive Shakira back to her home in the boot of a car after violently attacking her (credit: Met Police).

Officers recovered CCTV footage and bank transactions where the defendants used Shakira's bank card to purchase a cleaning product, and Studholme and Richardson used their own bank cards to purchase items including refuse sacks and gloves, all in an attempt to clean-up the crime scenes and conceal their involvement in the murder.

Their mobile phones were seized, which laid bare to detectives just what they had done to Shakira.

Met officers found hundreds of messages were found on their phones referencing the abuse they had subjected Shakira to.

Richardson and Studholme exchanged images of a bedraggled Shakira, mocking her.

Videos of Shakira being beaten up while the others laughed and jeered were also discovered.

The three defendants were charged with murder three days after their arrest.

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