Man who raped and murdered schoolgirl died at HMP Frankland

Viktors Dembovskis, who was serving three life sentences with a whole life tariff, died at HMP Frankland on December 20, 2025, according to documents published on the County Durham and Darlington coroner list.

Dembovskis, aged 63, was convicted in March 2006 of two counts of rape and the murder of 17-year-old Jeshma Raithatha in London after a unanimous jury verdict. He was given three life sentences and was told he would never be eligible for release.

An inquest opening is scheduled for January 29, before Jeremy Chipperfield at the Civic Centre in Crook. No jury is required.

Jeshma disappeared on May 16, 2005 after leaving Claremont High School in Kenton, north west London, where she was studying for her A levels. She was last seen at 1.20pm and never returned home.

After eight days of searching, her body was discovered on May 24 in dense undergrowth near a recreation ground between the David Lloyd Leisure Centre and Greenford Road in Sudbury Hill, West London.

A post-mortem examination found she had suffered multiple stab wounds to the heart.

Further forensic testing later established she had been raped and was most likely killed on the day she went missing at the location where her body was found.

Police linked Dembovskis to the crime after he abruptly fled a shared address in Dimmock Drive, Greenford, leaving behind personal belongings.

A blue fleece jacket recovered from the address contained bloodstained jewellery identified as Jeshma's with DNA matching hers.

Keys found at the murder scene were later confirmed to fit the locks of the Dimmock Drive property and the room where Dembovskis lived.

He left the UK on May 20, 2005, travelling from Victoria coach station on a one-way ticket to Latvia.

He was arrested at his home in Livani on June 2 after a European arrest warrant was issued.

At the time of his conviction, investigating officer DI John Crossley said: “This terrible crime took away a beautiful young lady in the prime of her life and destroyed a loving and very private family.

"I pay tribute to their bravery and dignity throughout the trial and ask that their privacy is now respected as they try to come to terms with the events of the last year.

“Despite the overwhelming evidence against him, Dembovskis has fought the case all the way, putting the family through the trauma of a trial. DNA samples placed Dembovskis at the scene, with a one in a billion chance that he did not commit these terrible crimes. He has never, at any time, displayed remorse for his actions.

“I would like to thank the Latvian and Lithuanian community for their assistance throughout this investigation, without their information and help they gave it is unlikely Dembovskis would have been identified as the perpetrator so quickly.”

Dembovskis was previously of Dimmock Drive, Greenford, and was a Latvian national.

A Prison Service spokesperson said: “The Prison and Probation Ombudsman investigates all deaths in custody.”