‘Scarface’ murderer jailed for 20 years after killing spree across Europe

A serial murderer dubbed ‘Scarface’ who went on a two-year killing spree across Europe has been jailed for at least 20 years in the UK for his fifth murder.

Mane Driza, also known as ‘Tony Montana’ after Al Pacino’s infamous on-screen drug lord, killed fellow Albanian Stefan Bedar Mone, 23, in north London in June 1999.

A jury found the 41-year-old guilty at the Old Bailey after two and a half hours of deliberations.

Driza, 41, used a pick axe, lock knife and cheese knife to inflict more than 120 wounds on his victim.

Mr Mone’s girlfriend, Zoe Blay, found his body the following day and was only able to identify him by his belt buckle.

Mr Mone’s girlfriend earlier told the court in a victim impact statement: “I cannot put into words or begin to explain that day I found Stefan’s body, it has traumatised me to this day, I suffer with flashbacks and nightmares. No one would want to see their loved one laying there like that.

“I was extremely scared after that; I moved from the city I had called home my whole life to a city where I only knew two people just to feel safe.”

Jurors were told that Driza had become angry that his flatmate Mr Mone had taken his wedding ring and given it to his partner.

Driza’s attack on Mr Mone came two years after he killed a father and son and fled to the UK under the false name of Sokol Drenova.

After killing his third victim, Mr Mone, he took a flight to Italy where he shot and killed two men at a bar in Sicily two months later.

The court heard he had already been found guilty of four fatal shootings and an attempted murder in Albania and Italy as well as making threats to kill.

Judge Sarah Munro QC sentenced Driza to life with a minimum term of 20 years. She said: “This is a very unusual, if not unique case.”

The sentence will not start until 2026 at the conclusion of his 30-year sentence in Italy.