A criminology student who killed a stranger in a random attack on Bournemouth beach was reported for stalking three months earlier and may have targeted another woman on the same evening.
Nasen Saadi, 20, stabbed 34-year-old Mrs Gray to death in a ‘horrifying’ attack at Durley Chine Beach, West Undercliff Promenade, on May 24. He was also found guilty of the attempted murder of Leanne Miles.
Saadi, who had ‘wanted to be the star of a true crime episode’, launched a savage assault on the two women as they were enjoying a late night chat next to a small fire to keep warm on the beach.
Mrs Gray was pronounced dead at the scene while Ms Miles suffered 20 injuries but survived the attack after screaming ‘Please stop, I’ve got children’.
Three months before the attack, an allegation of stalking was made against Saadi, leading the Metropolitan Police to refer itself to the police watchdog.
Another woman, who was on the beach shortly before Amie Gray was killed, said she saw Saadi lurking in the shadows.
The woman said she felt a ‘sense of dread’ that she could have been the victim.
Speaking to The Telegraph anonymously, she said she and her friend had been walking along the promenade when she saw Saadi lurking in the shadows walking back and forth, just minutes before his attack on Amie Gray.
The criminology student was seen on CCTV lurking behind Mrs Gray and Ms Miles just 20 minutes before attacking them
Nasen Saadi (pictured) has been found guilty of murdering personal trainer Amie Gray on Bournemouth beach
Amie Gray, 34, from Poole, was murdered at Durley Chine Beach, West Undercliff Promenade on May 24
Another woman, who was on the beach shortly before Amie Gray was killed, said she saw Saadi.
The woman said she felt a ‘sense of dread’ that she could have been the victim.
Speaking to The Telegraph anonymously, she said she and her friend had been walking along the promenade when she saw Saadi lurking in the shadows walking back and forth, just minutes before his attack on Amie Gray.
She said that he kept looking at them, which made her shout at him loudly.
At the time they did not believe he would harm them, but said they thought he was ‘odd’.
The woman, a student, said she felt a ‘strange atmosphere’ on the beach that night.
She said: ‘[We] decided to leave as there was an uneasy feeling, and it was getting late. It wasn’t until we heard about what had happened to Ms Gray that we started to feel a bit frightened.’
The next day, upon hearing the news of the death, the two women went to police.
Saadi (pictured) was studying criminology and criminal psychology at Greenwich University
The criminology student was seen on CCTV lurking behind Mrs Gray and Ms Miles just 20 minutes before attacking them
Police seen using metal detectors at Durley Chine beach, Bournemouth, in the days after the murder
Saadi’s lecturer at Greenwich University Lisa-Maria Reiss told jurors Saadi asked her questions on ‘how to get away with murder’ and asked ‘how often’ a self-defence argument would ‘go through’ if a ‘person was attacked first’.
His questions prompted her to ask him ‘You’re not planning a murder are you?’ – to which Saadi did not respond.
Saadi had taken such an ‘interest’ in true crime his lecturer had once asked him ‘You’re not planning a murder are you?’ when he ‘plied’ her with questions about forensics and how different police forces operated.
She also said he would make controversial remarks during seminars relating to ‘women being weaker than men’ and how ‘they shouldn’t work in certain jobs’.
Saadi’s grandfather, who refused to give his name, told The Telegraph he ‘knows his grandson is innocent.
He said it was unfortunate that his ‘clever’ grandson had asked questions on his criminology course, which had now been used as evidence against him.
He said: ‘He is a clever boy, he is not naive, he thinks about things deeply, he plans them carefully, he works out what he is going to do, he is not stupid.’
He said that his grandson, who stabbed Gray 10 times, was so gentle he ‘couldn’t even crack an egg’ if he was asked to.
His grandfather also shared that Saadi now cannot sleep in prison due to the noise of fellow prisoners crying, shouting and fighting.
Saadi (pictured) launched a savage attack on Mrs Gray and her friend as they were enjoying a late night chat next to a small fire to keep warm on the beach
Despite pleading not guilty to the murder of Mrs Gray and the attempted murder of Ms Miles, Saadi was today convicted of the offences by a jury. Addressing Saadi, Judge Johannah Cutts said he faces life imprisonment.
‘You have been convicted of the most serious of crimes,’ she said. ‘As you have heard, there is only sentence which one should expect to follow the verdict of this jury and that is a sentence of imprisonment for life.
‘You should be under no illusions, the minimum term in this case will be of considerable length.’
As the verdicts were delivered at Winchester Crown Court, Hampshire, Saadi hung his head and did not show any emotion.
In a statement read outside court, Sian Gray paid tribute to her late wife Mrs Gray and praised medics who helped her.
The statement, that was read on her behalf, said: ‘I want to take this opportunity to thank all of Dorset Police, the jury, prosecution team, the medics, and first response team – to each and every person who helped bring Amie the justice she deserved.
‘Amie will never be forgotten. She touched the lives of so many. The immense support and love shown by everyone reflects just that.
‘Amie’s life has been brutally taken but now she can rest in peace. Her strength lives on in all of us.’
The court heard Saadi was ‘fascinated’ with knives and had bought six blades from websites. Pictured: One of the knives found in his bedroom following his arrest
One of the knives seized from Nasen Saadi’s bedroom and parents’ house during a search conducted by officers on May 28, following Saadi’s arrest
Paying tribute to her daughter after Mrs Gray’s death, Sharon Macklin said: ‘As a family we are devastated to have lost one of the most amazing, funny, kind and energetic souls.
‘When Amie entered a room it filled with laughter and her presence could not be ignored.
‘She was beautiful inside and out and there are no words that can express how empty our lives will be without her.
‘We will miss her so much and our hearts are forever broken.’
A nine-day trial at Winchester Crown Court heard Saadi was enrolled as a student at Greenwich University in London where he studied criminology – but ‘his interest was not precisely academic’.
The trial heard that Saadi was interested in true crime, horror movies and knives which he bought on the internet and had called himself ‘Ninja killer’ for his username on Snapchat.
He was found to have obsessed over methods of murder and ‘high profile’ stabbings such as the murder of teenager Brianna Ghey – and looked up ‘busiest beaches’ as he plotted his crime.
Prosecutors claimed Saadi wanted to know how it felt to take a life and to gain the ‘notoriety a killing of this sort might bring him’.
Amie ( pictured) was described by her mother as some whose ‘presence could not be ignored’
Sian Gray also paid tribute to her late wife (pictured) and praised medics who helped her
His tutors told the court that he had shown a ‘degree of specific interest in matters not related to the subject of his lectures’ and ‘plied’ them with questions relating to forensics, DNA, self defence, and policing.
In March, Saadi is said to have researched ‘why is it harder for a killer to be caught if he does it in another town’ and ‘which is the deadliest knife’.
The following month, he allegedly carried out online searches for the ‘busiest beaches’ and then the following day looked at ‘whether Bournemouth beach was open at night’ and if sand or pebbles were easiest to run on.
He even went as far as to search which hotels in the area had CCTV.
Two days before the alleged attack, Saadi went to the cinema and watched ‘The Strangers – Chapter 1’ which the prosecutor described as a ‘slasher home invasion movie’ where the male and female leads are both stabbed.
On May 21, Saadi then travelled down from his home in Croydon to Bournemouth, where he checked into a Travelodge hotel which he had booked in advance, the court heard.
He was recorded at the beach on the same day, in what was described as the first of several visits to survey the scene.
On Friday May 24, Ms Miles and Mrs Gray had ‘arranged to meet’ at Durley Beach to enjoy a picnic and a drink together in a setting which Ms Miles described as ‘peaceful and calm’.
Sian Gray (right) with her wife Amie Gray who died after being stabbed on Durley Chine Beach, Bournemouth at around 11.45pm on May 24
Sian Gray (pictured) paid tribute to her late wife Mrs Gray and praised medics who helped her
Whilst they were sat in front of the fire pit to keep warm, Saadi ‘loitered’ behind them.
In a police interview, Ms Miles described turning round to see ‘this boy’ who ‘wasn’t very old’.
She said Mrs Gray smiled at him before he ‘went towards me’ to which her friend proclaimed ‘What are you doing? Get off her’.
It was then that Saadi started to stab the two friends which prompted Ms Miles to run in an attempt to get help.
After running towards the promenade, Ms Miles said Saadi then ‘came back onto me’ and started ‘continuously stabbing me’, the court heard.
The surviving victim told police in an interview that she begged with the student ‘Please stop, I’ve got children’ and that’s when he ‘walked away’.
Home Office pathologist Dr Basil Purdue told the court Mrs Gray died as a result of 10 knife wounds in the incident in May, including one to the heart, while Ms Miles suffered 20 knife injuries.
Shortly after the murder, Saadi discarded the clothes and shoes he had worn during the attack and left Bournemouth early the next morning.
Phone records showed he viewed breaking news articles about the incident the morning after.
Saadi at Riddlesdown railway station, south London, before heading to Bournemouth
Saadi arriving at a Travelodge hotel in Bournemouth on May 21
As part of the investigation, the student’s devices were examined and officers discovered he used the usernames ‘NSKills’ and ‘Ninja Kiler’.
Following his arrest, the student was interviewed and insisted he was ‘not responsible’ for the attack as he had ‘no reason’ to murder anyone.
When asked what he was doing on the night Mrs Gray was killed, he told police he had ‘probably blacked out’ or was ‘sleep walking’.
During the interview, Saadi claimed he was being ‘wrongly accused’ of a serious offence he has ‘nothing to do with’ – and told Dorset Police he was being ‘blamed’ because they were ‘under pressure’ to find a suspect.
Benjamin May, a Senior Crown Prosecutor with CPS Wessex, said: ‘This was a senseless attack which shocked the people of Bournemouth – and our deepest condolences remain with Amie Gray’s family.
‘Though both victims were chosen at random, Nasen Saadi’s unfathomable desire to carry out a murder was backed up by extensive planning – which included going to great lengths to avoid getting caught.
‘Now he has been convicted and faces life behind bars, I hope he will be forgotten.
‘In contrast, we hope that Amie’s memory will live on; as a much-loved young woman and a pillar of her community, who bravely and selflessly defended her friend in the face of a terrifying attack.
‘Our thoughts today are with all those who loved and cherished her, as well as with Leanne Miles, whose ongoing support has helped us deliver justice. We hope she and everyone affected by this tragedy can find some solace in today’s verdict.’
Saadi is seen on CCTV less than 20 minutes before he launched a ferocious knife attack on Mrs Gray and Ms Miles
Saadi walking along promenade on Bournemouth seafront, where Amie Gray and Leanne Miles were said to be sitting, on the night of May 24
Detective Inspector Mark Jenkins, of Dorset Police, said: ‘The investigation team worked tirelessly for many weeks and months to gather all the available evidence seeking to bring the attacker to justice for Amie, Leanne and their families who have been extremely supportive of the investigation throughout. I would like to thank them for the way they have bravely endured the court proceedings each in their own way.
‘My thanks go to the Crown Prosecution Service and the prosecution team for presenting the evidence gathered by the investigation team in the best way possible. An investigation of this scale is truly a team effort from beginning to end.
‘We fully understand that this senseless murder had a considerable impact on the whole community in the Bournemouth area. We will continue to do all we can to work with partners and tackle knife crime and violence against women and girls in the town and I hope this case demonstrates that we will do everything in our power to ensure offenders are identified and held to account.’
The jury at Winchester Crown Court unanimously found Saadi guilty of murder and attempted murder. He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 28, 2025.