The public prosecutor had called for the man to be sentenced to life imprisonment.

The man was accused of grabbing the woman by the neck, stabbing her and then suffocating her with a pillow.

The woman died shortly after the attack.

The man tried to kill himself following the attack by jumping from a fourth-floor balcony. He broke a number of bones in the fall and hurt his back, leading to a long period in hospital.

The man admitted trying to strangle the woman but denied stabbing her. He denied responsibility, blaming an unnamed man for forcing him to carry out the act at gunpoint.

The woman and man were acquainted, living on the same corridor of the student hall of residence. The murder took place on September 2nd last year.