A “serial abuser” with mental health issues may have been high on drugs when he stabbed his girlfriend to death at a London hotel, the Old Bailey has heard.

Taye Francis, 40, was found guilty of murdering Khloemae Loy, 23, at the Holiday Inn Express in Greenwich on July 5 last year.

Detective Sergeant Quinn Cutler said: “Taye Francis is a violent, controlling man who subjected Khloemay to constant aggression as a result of his own paranoia.”

On the morning of July 5, Francis called 999 and told the operator: “Quick, my girlfriend’s dying – I’ve stabbed her in the neck.” During the call, he sent a photo of his girlfriend as she lay on the bed to his solicitor with the message: “I’ve killed my girlfriend.”

When the police arrived, they struggled to gain entry into the hotel room. Francis had barricaded the door with a sofa bed and tried to flee by jumping out of the window. However, he landed on a roof and was apprehended.

The dead woman’s parents said: “Khloemae was only 23 at the time of her death. We all miss her bubbly personality, she was always the life and soul of the party and she always tried to see the best in everyone. She was like our little china doll.”

They said they had urged Khloemae to break up with Francis but he threatened to attack her parents if she did.

Police investigators branded Francis a “pathological liar and serial abuser of women”, BBC News heard.

The court heard that Francis had a string of convictions for sex offences over the past 20 years. In 2002, he served six years for kidnap and possession of a blade and was placed on the sex offenders’ register for two counts of rape.

The court heard that Francis suffered from severe paranoia, primarily due to his addiction to steroids. His deteriorating mental state led him to move house several times because he was convinced someone “was out to get him,” according to Emma Currie from the Crown Prosecution Service.

The Class C drug causes side effects such as aggression and paranoia.

Francis met Loy at a pub where she worked while studying at a nearby college. He manipulated her since their first encounter at the pub and lied about his age and occupation, claiming that he was 26 and a student at the same college. Loy also did not know about Francis’ criminal history.

Drug misuse has been one of the main drivers in the rise of homicides across the country, according to a 2020 government study. It said that drug-related cases accounted for about half of the increase in homicides between March 2015 and March 2018.