A former Jamaican Pentecostal deacon who threatened to kill his young partner and mother of three, two weeks before she was murdered, was found guilty of her murder and has been sentenced to life in prison.

Forty-three-year-old Ezekiel Foster told The Old Bailey that he had no recollection of killing his partner, 24-year-old Sashana Roberts.

Roberts, a Jamaican mother of three children aged six, three and one, was killed at her home in north London on September 12, while two of the children were present.

During the three-week trial, the court heard that the mother was stabbed at least 11 times and dumped in the bath at her home in Cricklewood.

Foster, who was unemployed, and of no fixed address, will serve a minimum of 19 years.

According to reports, Acting Detective Chief Inspector Andy Manning, of the Homicide and Serious Crime Command said Roberts died at the hands of a person she had been close to.

She had tried to end the relationship, but last September Foster used extreme violence and killed her, not appearing to give any thought to her young children who were in the house at the time.

Roberts was discovered by a close friend who forced entry into house following concerns for her welfare.

The London Ambulance Service was summoned and found Roberts’ body laying in a bath. She had suffered numerous knife-induced stab wounds to her body. She was pronounced dead at scene.

A post mortem examination revealed the cause of death, as shock and haemorrhaging as a result of multiple stab wounds.

A search at the address located the murder weapon, a kitchen knife, hidden behind a cupboard. DNA evidence further linked Foster to the crime scene.

The court was told that Foster was overheard threatening to kill Roberts at a barbeque two weeks before she was killed by him.

At the time, it was said that Foster was seen pulling Roberts and trying to get her to go away with him in a violent mood.

Foster’s friend Carlton White told the court he had expressed concerns to him about his partner ‘dancing in the dancehall wearing X-rated clothes’ and electrician Andrew White, said Foster, who he had employed to help with a few jobs, had been angry about a picture Roberts had posted of herself on Facebook, featuring her posing in her underwear.

Garfield Paharsingh, Robert’s brother-in-law, told the court Foster asked if he could stay with him and confessed he had killed Roberts when they met up.

Foster told him he didn’t know what happened and that he was sorry.

Foster who denied murder, but admitted to manslaughter, due to diminished responsibilities told the court that he had started hearing voices in his head while he was on the run from police in around 2009.

He said he had skipped bail after he was told he was facing a jail for shoplifting because of his previous convictions, which include battering his late wife Anne-Marie in a row over car keys and assaulting another lover.

He was eventually arrested and sent to prison for four months. Anne-Marie died in 2009 from a terminal muscle-wasting disease.

Foster further told the court that an evil spirit called Joseph ordered his actions and that he is sometimes successful in casting out evil spirits, but because he has not been living for God, he is unable to do this.

Foster said that he lost faith in God when wife died and he felt comforted by the spirits because they were his friends.

Asked about his motivation for the killing, he replied that the spirit told him to do it and he had no recollection of the incident.