Mircea Cozmiuc: 'Jealousy' drove Sivan Amin to carry out brutal murder of ex-housemate
A convicted murderer only had one thought - to kill his victim - after he became jealous of his friendships, say police ahead of sentencing today.
Sivan Amin has been found guilty of brutally murdering his former housemate Mircea Gheorghe Cozmiuc by stabbing him more than 20 times in a street.
Amin carried out the vicious attack on 23-year-old in Carter Road, Whitmore Reans.
The Iraqi killer targeted his Romanian victim as he left his house for work, knifing him in the neck and then his body as he lay screaming on the ground.
A jury of seven women and five men took eight hours to find Amin guilty of murder by a 10-2 majority. It is his second conviction for murder.
The 37-year-old smirked as the verdict was read at Birmingham Crown Court yesterday.
Detective Inspector Jim Munro, from Force CID at West Midlands Police, speaking after the hearing said: “It soon became clear that Amin was Gheorge’s murderer.
"It was a savage attack where Amin had only one thought - to kill.
“It appeared Amin may have become jealous of Gheorge’s other friendships; and resulted in him carrying out this brutal attack.
"He now faces a substantial period behind bars and will this conviction will hopefully bring some closure for Gheorge’s family."
Judge Melbourne Inman QC said it had been a ‘remarkably brutal’ murder.
During Amin’s trial, which lasted 13 days, the prosecution revealed how Amin had turned against Mr Cozmiuc after being ‘booted out’ by the Romanian and a third housemate, Andrei Bourceanu.
He subsequently became jealous of the pair’s relationship and allegedly sent them homophobic abuse via photo-sharing service Instagram in the months leading up to the murder.
The jury also heard evidence of how Amin, of Merridale Street West, had become similarly jealous of another friend’s marriage when living in Sweden and had gone on to kill him by shooting him in the head in 2008.
He was being sentenced today for Mr Cozmiuc’s murder unless the judge decides a psychiatric report must be prepared.
In a statement read to the court, Miruna Cozmiuc, Mircea’s sister, said: “It has been very hard for us to accept what he [Amin] did. I still have the feeling Mircea is in the UK working hard and having fun with his friends. We all miss him and will never be able to say goodbye to him, never.”
A post-mortem revealed Mr Cozmiuc, who worked at Amazon in Rugeley, suffered 46 injuries.
