Writer's murderer jailed for life

A robber who targeted and murdered a celebrated travel writer because he was gay was jailed for life at the Old Bailey yesterday.

Robert Tewdwr Moss, 34, was found bound and gagged in his flat, in Paddington, central London, which had been ransacked. Two socks were stuffed in the author's mouth and he was left to die from suffocation. A word processor containing the final revision of his book, Cleopatra's Wedding Present: travels in Syria, was stolen, along with cash and other items. Abdul Aziz, 21, a student from Paddington, had denied murder. After the jury's verdict, Judge Michael Coombe told him: "You are guilty of a horrific murder of a defenceless man. He was abused with great brutality."