A man has pleaded guilty to murdering a woman as he stole her car.

Nicolae Patraucean, 20, a Romanian national living in Stanmore, was convicted of stabbing 55-year-old Rivka Holden to death on Sunday March 16, in Colindale.

A police car was flagged down just after midnight on the Sunday morning and officers were told a woman had been seriously injured at her home in Falcon Way.

Ambulance crews attended the incident and pronounced the woman dead at the scene.

The victim’s Red Hyundai i20, which had been stolen during the incident, was later found in the Kingsbury area.

A murder investigation was launched by Homicide & Major Crime Command and Patraucean was caught and charged with the murder on March 17.

At the Old Bailey yesterday Patraucean pleaded guilty to the murder and is due to be sentenced on Friday July 25.