A multi-millionaire’s daughter who wrote a murder manual whilst in prison before killing a frail pensioner during a burglary has been moved to an open prison as a precursor to being freed.
Kemi Adeyoola was 17 when she stabbed 84-year-old Anne Mendel 14 times at her home in Golders Green, north-west London in March 2005. Her body was found by her husband.
At her sentencing at London’s Old Bailey in June 2006, judge Richard Hone described Adeyoola as intelligent and manipulative and labelled her a ‘remorseless and cold-blooded killer.’
Adeyoola was given a mandatory life sentence with a minimum term of 20-years in jail. Her first parole hearing was in March 2023 and it ended with the Board recommending she be moved to open conditions.
It is unusual for a person convicted in such a high profile murder case to be recommended for a security downgrade on their first appearance before the three-person board.
Kemi Adeyoola was 17 when she stabbed 84-year-old Anne Mendel 14 times at her home in Golders Green, north-west London in March 2005
Adeyoola (pictured) was given a mandatory life sentence with a minimum term of 20-years. Anne Mendel’s body was found by her husband after she was stabbed to death.
But a spokesperson for the Parole Board said: ‘The Parole Board refused the release of Kemi Adeyoola but recommended a move to an open conditions prison following an oral hearing in October 2023.
‘This was a recommendation only and the Secretary of State for Justice considers the advice before making the final decision on whether a prisoner is suitable for open conditions.
‘We will only make a recommendation for open conditions if a Parole Board panel is satisfied that the risk to the public has reduced sufficiently to be manageable in an open prison and if a transfer to open prison is considered to be essential to inform future decisions about release.
‘A move to open conditions involves testing the prisoner’s readiness for any potential return into the community in future. Prisoners moved to open conditions can be returned to closed conditions if there is concern about their behaviour.
‘Parole Board decisions are solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public. A panel will carefully examine a huge range of evidence, including details of the original crime, and any evidence of behaviour change, as well as explore the harm done and impact the crime has had on the victims.
‘Members read and digest hundreds of pages of evidence and reports in the lead up to an oral hearing. Evidence from witnesses including probation officers, psychiatrists and psychologists, officials supervising the offender in prison as well as victim personal statements are then given at the hearing.
‘The prisoner and witnesses are then questioned at length during the hearing which often lasts a full day or more. Parole reviews are undertaken thoroughly and with extreme care. Protecting the public is our number one priority.’
The Justice Secretary has the power to block a move to open conditions but chose not to enforce it for Adeyoola.
Aeyoola served time in Bullwood Hall young offenders’ institute, Essex, for shoplifting where she made plans to find a frail pensioner to rob and murder.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice told MailOnline: ‘Ann Mendel’s murder was an appalling crime and our thoughts remain with her family.
‘The independent Parole Board conducts a thorough risk assessment before recommending a transfer to open conditions but the Prison Service retains the ability to return offenders to closed prison at the first sign of any concern.’
Adeyoola’s case hit the headlines because of her wealthy background and her meticulous planning of the murder while serving time in Bullwood Hall young offenders’ institute, Essex, for shoplifting.
In an 18-page document found by officers, she sketched in detail how she would find a frail pensioner to rob and murder, listing equipment she would need, and what she would do with the money she stole.
Privately-educated Adeyoola wrote in the document, entitled ‘Prison and After: Making life count’ that she would need ‘a minimum of £3m’.
For this she would need to rob and murder an elderly woman, and frame the woman’s husband for the killing.
The attack was imagined in chilling detail: ‘With your butcher’s knife remove her head. Wrap it in film to contain bleeding, detach limbs one by one,’ she wrote. ‘When you have completed the task, put head, body pieces in black bag.’
Adeyoola considered Mrs Mendel, her former neighbour, a soft target to practise on before finding a ‘rich, elderly and defenceless’ woman to slay for money, Throughout the trial the teenager insisted the notes were preparation for a crime novel she planned to write, a version of events the jury rejected.
Judge Hone said: ‘I regret to say I have formed the view that you are a remorseless and cold-blooded killer who is a serious and continuing danger to the public.
‘I believe that your motive was to draw attention to yourself by the act of murder.
‘I think you wanted to experience what it felt like to kill someone in cold blood, possibly so that you could write about it, but more probably so that you could boast about it and possibly even do it again.’
Speaking after the verdict, Detective Inspector Steve Morris of the Metropolitan police described the case as ‘a wicked, premeditated murder committed by a callous, devious young woman and her cold, calculated use of extreme violence beggars belief’. Bola Adeyoola, her millionaire businessman father said at the time: ‘She is no longer my daughter. What she did was evil. I don’t even like her.’.
