Ludmila Poletelova jailed for hammer murder of friend in Limavady

• Svetlana Svedova was sentenced to 16 years in prison.
• For killing Ludmila Poletelova with a claw hammer.
• Svedova admitted to drinking 12 beer cans with the victim on the day of the murder.

A Latvian woman who beat her companion more than 50 times with a claw hammer to death has been sentenced to at least 16 years in prison in Limavady.

In April 2021, 61-year-old Ludmila Poletelova was discovered dead at her Lodge Court house in Limavady.

In December of last year, Svetlana Svedova, 47, of College Court in the town, entered a plea of guilty to her slaying.

Svedova hit her buddy “repeatedly and viciously with a hammer,” a senior detective claimed.

The judge at Belfast Crown Court used the phrase “nature and sustained severity of the attack involving the use of a claw hammer” to describe his sentencing remarks, stating that it was a substantial aggravating circumstance.

According to him, the victim was attacked in her own house by a friend she had previously supported. This was one of the additional aggravating circumstances.

Also, he mentioned Svedova’s attempt to elude prosecution by destroying the murder weapon and her clothing.

Det Insp. Claire McGarvey described the loss of Ms. Poletelova’s two sons and two small grandchildren as “a senseless, callous and barbaric loss of innocent life” in her post-sentence remarks.

After coming from Latvia, Ms. Poletelova spent 12 years living in Northern Ireland, where she worked as a kitchen porter in a wine bar in Limavady.

She was characterized as a beloved and well-respected local resident.

Her family expressed their appreciation to those in the neighborhood who started and helped with a fundraising initiative that made it possible for her body to be returned to her native Latvia.

One of her sons stated in a victim impact statement last week that his mother’s murder had a “devastating impact” on her family.

The defendant and the victim were allegedly “close friends” who worked together, and Ms. Poletelova had provided her killer with lodging and money when she arrived from Latvia in Northern Ireland.

A prosecuting attorney claimed that Svedova was captured on surveillance footage entering the victim’s home on April 20, 2021, and departing over 12 hours later while carrying two bags.

She was seen discarding one of the bags in further video.

The prosecutor, according to the defense attorney, thought it contained the murder weapon.

Svedova covered Ms. Poletelova’s shift when she failed to show up.

She reportedly questioned if anyone at the wine bar believed she was the murderer and had scratches on her arms, according to testimony given to the court.

After being arrested she told police: “I did not kill. I was the last to see her alive.”

She admitted to drinking 12 beer cans with the victim on the day of the murder but left her “safe and healthy” during a police questioning.

According to the testimony given in court, Svedova owed the victim £800 in addition to £900 in back rent.

The day after the murder, she paid a letting agent more than £500, although her defense attorney said her son provided the funds.

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