Podedworna was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 21 years at Derby Crown Court on Wednesday.

Ms Zablocka was first reported missing in 2010, after moving to the UK from Poland with her partner, Podedworna.

For almost 15 years, the whereabouts of Ms Zablocka was unknown, while Podedworna denied any knowledge.

Ms Zablocka, a mother of one, shared a phone call with her mother, who was the last person to hear from her, on August 28, 2010.

It wasn’t until May 21, 2025, that Podedworna confessed she had information on the case she wished to share.

Three days later, she told officers they would find the body, at Princes Street, Derby – the back garden of the house in which they shared.

| DERBYSHIRE POLICE

Prosecutor Gordon Aspden KC said “mounting pressure” caused Podedworna to “crack”, and email the police when a Polish television journalist flew to the UK to interview her.

The remains of Ms Zablocka were discovered under concrete blocks in the garden of their shared terraced house.

Podedworna, of Boyer Street, Derby, sat in the dock at Derby Crown Court wearing a grey sweatshirt, black glasses and her hair tied in a bun when Mrs Justice Williams KC sentenced her on Wednesday.

In her sentencing remarks, the judge said: “Your crimes and Izabela’s gruesome fate only came to light in 2025.

“As a result of your violent, manipulative and cruel actions, Katarzyna grew up not knowing what happened to her beloved mother.

“Your actions caused untold misery and trauma to Izabela’s family who were left with no idea where she was or what had befallen her.”

She added: “I am sure you killed her in anger and frustration rather than when you were attacked by her.”

Ms Zablocka’s daughter, Katarzyna Zablocka, who stayed in Poland as a child when her mother moved to the UK, said she has spent her entire adult life “looking for answers” about the disappearance.

“As a young child I was incredibly close to my mother,” she said. “She was my whole world so the fact she suddenly vanished from my life without a single word of explanation was a horrific experience for me.

“This sudden void left a deep wound in my psyche that has stayed with me to this day.

“In my heart I always felt that my mother did not leave me on purpose. I remembered how much she loved me when I was little.

“It was this certainty – that I mattered to her – that gave me the strength to spend my entire adult life looking for answers – what really happened that caused our contact to break off so suddenly?”

Podedworna, who has two young children of her own, had previously claimed Ms Zablocka died by “accident” during a domestic altercation, saying she ended up killing her partner in an act of “self-defence”.

The defendant, giving evidence in court through the help of a Polish interpreter, said Ms Zablocka was “angry” on the day of her death. She is also accused oof grabbing Podedworna strangling her.

Rather than call an ambulance when Ms Zablocka was dead, the court was told she instead decided to cut the victim in half and bury her in the garden.

Podedworna told jurors she was “terrified” and “felt fear”.

“I thought I will bury her. I took the decision I would bury her in the garden,” she added.

Podedworna, a Polish turkey butcher, cut Ms Zablocka in half with a kitchen knife, trussing the victim up “like a chicken” with electrical tape.

She then buried her remains in bin bags in a “filthy, makeshift grave”.

Ms Zablocka’s daughter said she “never expected” the search for her mum would have “ended in these circumstances”.

“It is heartbreaking, but I do also feel a great sense of satisfaction because I never gave up, and if it wasn’t for that determination to find out the truth, we wouldn’t be in the place we are now. I never gave up,” she added.

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