Life imprisonment for man guilty of Dunkirk murder
Life imprisonment has been given to an offender found guilty of murdering a man at a caravan site in Dunkirk. Dumitru Palazu murdered 30-year-old Alexandru Constantinescu following an altercation at a caravan park in Dunkirk, near Faversham, in April 2019. The 48-year-old, of Gate Hill, Dunkirk, denied murder but was found guilty following a trial at Maidstone Crown Court on Tuesday 12 November 2019. He was sentenced on the same date and will serve a minimum of 30 years. Shortly after 7pm on Sunday 7 April an altercation took place between the victim and a group of men at a caravan site in Gate Hill. As Mr Constantinescu was speaking with one of the other men involved, Palazu ran around 35 metres towards him and stabbed him under the armpit. The single wound inflicted a fatal injury and the victim died around an hour later at the scene despite receiving emergency treatment from doctors and paramedics. Immediately after the incident Palazu left the area, with mobile phone footage filmed by a witness showing him pacing up and down the central reservation of the nearby A2 before he went into hiding. He handed himself in to officers at Canterbury Police Station the following evening and was remanded in custody, where he has since remained. Detective Constable Simon Williams, the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate’s investigating officer for the case, said: ‘Palazu was not involved in the disturbance taking place but made a conscious decision to walk towards the men and single out the victim. ‘A video recorded by one of the witnesses then shows his left arm making a clear, deliberate and precise movement towards the victim while holding a knife. ‘Directing a lethal weapon towards such a vulnerable part of the body clearly shows Palazu’s intention was to murder the victim and I am pleased we have been able to secure justice for his family.’
