(Image: PROVIDED)
A Hartlepool man who murdered his stepdaughter after developing what police described as a "disgusting sexual obsession" with her has been jailed for life.
Nathan Owens, 34, was sentenced at Preston Crown Court after being found guilty of murdering Carla Georgescu, who was found dead in her student accommodation on her birthday.
The court heard Owens travelled from Hartlepool to Carla's accommodation the night before her 20th birthday and killed her.
Following a three-week trial, a jury took just over three hours to unanimously convict Owens of murder.
He had previously admitted charges of making an indecent photograph of a child.
Carla's body was discovered in her room at the University of Lancashire's Ribble Hall on February 5.
Jurors heard Owens had secretly taken photographs of Carla and superimposed her face onto pornographic images of naked women as his obsession with his stepdaughter escalated.
Sentencing Owens, the court heard he would serve a minimum of 35 years before becoming eligible to apply for parole.
Following the case, Detective Inspector Pete Macdonald, of Lancashire Police's Major Investigation Team, said Carla's life had been stolen by someone she should have been able to trust.
He said: "Carla had her whole life ahead of her, which was ripped away by someone she should have been able to trust.
"Owens has taken Carla's life, but he has also changed her mum's completely.
"He has torn apart the family he was trusted to love.
"As Carla's stepfather, he had the unique responsibility of being welcomed into a family.
"He should have respected and loved Carla as his own child.
"He completely abused that trust, harbouring a perverted infatuation with her, before ultimately killing her."
The detective said Owens' offending had begun years earlier when he manipulated innocent childhood photographs of Carla into indecent images.
He added: "Owens offending ended with the worst possible outcome – the loss of Carla's life, but the way it began is equally as disturbing. He took innocent childhood photos and made them indecent images.
"Because of this, Carla's mum has not only lost her daughter but has had some of her memories of Carla's childhood, before she met Owens, destroyed too."
DI Macdonald described Carla as a dedicated student with her whole future ahead of her.
He said: "Carla was a young woman, a dedicated student who had the rest of her life to look forward to.
"She was happy and healthy and living a life reflective of many other 19-year-old women.
"What she didn't know is that Owens had a disgusting sexual obsession with her, which led him to believe that if he couldn't have her, no one could.
"He knew Carla was moving forward with her life, and he knew as part of that she was travelling to meet her new boyfriend, so he travelled to her halls, a place she should have felt safe, and brutally assaulted her before killing her.
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"He is truly despicable."
He added: "Nothing will bring Carla back to her mum and all those who loved her, but I hope they can take some comfort in knowing that Owens has been convicted and given a life sentence.
"He will rightly remain in prison for a long time."