by Keith Hunt

A mother who helped an ex-boyfriend who confessed to her he had committed a murder has been spared a jail sentence after a judge said she had shown "great courage".

David Alberto had just killed John Joyce at his Ramsgate home when he told Christine Sattar he was also going to murder another girlfriend, Joanna Kurn.
But Sattar, 51, persuaded Alberto not to carry out the threat.

Sattar, of Park Lane, Birchington, admitted perverting the course of justice.
She was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment suspended for two years and ordered to complete 200 hours unpaid work.

Alberto, of Albert Street, Ramsgate, was jailed for life on March 4 after being convicted murdering Mr Joyce. He will serve a minimum of 20 years.

Maidstone Crown Court heard Alberto had been in a relationship with Miss Kurn, who was pregnant with his child at the time Mr Joyce was killed.

He blamed Mr Joyce, 64, for their break-up, although the victim was never more than a good friend to Miss Kurn.

Alberto, 32, went to Mr Joyce's home on the night of July 7 last year and stabbed him more than 11 times.

He then went to Sattar's house. He had blood on his trousers and trainers and told her he had killed someone. A knife protruded from his waistband.
He returned the next day with a jacket he had worn the night before. He asked her to wash it and dispose of it.

She washed it by hand and then gave it to a friend. But he kept it and handed it to the police.

She later lied in a witness statement, denying Alberto had been to her home on the night of the murder or asked her to wash the jacket.
But she contacted police and told the truth. "What I will say will hang him," she said.
She gave evidence for the prosecution at Alberto's trial.