A cold-blooded killer who slit an academic’s throat and then tried to burn her body with a blowtorch has been sentenced to at least 30 years behind bars.

Brute Kemal Ayyildiz slashed 48-year-old victim Aylin Sozer’s windpipe with a breadknife before dousing her body in petrol.

Then – a court in Turkey heard – he tried to set fire to her with a blowtorch in the attack on 29th December 2020.

Aylin – an assistant professor at Istanbul Aydin University – had known Ayyildiz but had fallen out with him over his violent behaviour.

He was caught after neighbours called police when they saw smoke coming from Aylin’s home while he was stealing her jewellery and trying to make transfers from her bank accounts.

Now the Anatolia 7th High Criminal Court in Istanbul has sentenced 33-year-old Ayyildiz to aggravated life imprisonment plus 15 years and six months behind bars.

In Turkey, the minimum non-parole term for an aggravated life prisoner is 30 years. It is not clear if the two sentences are cumulative or run concurrently.

The court had found Ayyildiz guilty of aggravated murder, armed robbery, and damage to property.

He had protested his innocence to the end, telling the court: “One day I will be found not guilty. I have three children, I swear on them, I did not kill Aylin.”

Following the hearing, sister Nilay Sozer said: “No decision will bring my sister back. But at least it can prevent the killing of other women.”

Femicide is a growing problem in Turkey, particularly after the country officially quit the Istanbul Convention in July last year.

According to the 2021 Annual Data Report announced by the ‘We Will Stop Femicide Platform’, 280 women were killed by men in 2021, while 217 women were found suspiciously dead.

According to data from the ‘Monument Counter’, which is “a digital memorial for women killed by violence” and is updated daily, 380 femicides have taken place in Turkey so far this year.