Sports Club Members Honor Coach Murdered on Beach

Members of a sports club have recounted the profound impact on their team after their coach was fatally stabbed. Amie Gray, 34, was killed by criminology student Nasen Saadi on a Bournemouth beach on May 24. The 20-year-old Saadi was convicted of her murder, as well as the attempted murder of her friend Leanne Miles, 38, at Winchester Crown Court on Wednesday. Paying tribute, members of Dorset Futsal Club described Ms. Gray’s death as “chilling.” Ms. Gray was an ardent enthusiast of futsal, a form of indoor football. On the night of her murder, she had attended a training session before meeting Ms. Miles on Durley Chine Beach. The two were seated on the sand, having lit a fire and observing the full moon together, when Saadi initiated his “senseless” and random attack. Ms. Gray, a personal trainer from Poole, died at the scene, and Ms. Miles was transported to a hospital for treatment of stab wounds to her chest and back. Saadi, who had been staying at a Travelodge and subsequently a guesthouse near the beach, was apprehended three days later. Teammates at Dorset Futsal Club, whom she had seen just hours earlier, characterized her as “so strong” and “comfortable being completely herself.” In a video released in her memory, club chairman Michael Wootten stated that she had been an “inspirational leader, teammate and friend” who would never be forgotten. “To have her go in the way that she went was just horrendous,” he remarked. He added, “It was like the heart of the club was ripped apart, it really was, because she was so central to everything.” Ms. Gray had been ambitious and eager to advance the girls’ futsal team into the national league. Player Hollie Bentley commented that the team would not be the same without her. “It’s feeling that she gave us all that will live on in the club… it’s something that she did without even realising,” she stated. Bentley concluded, “We will carry this on for her.” Saadi, who had an interest in true crime and was studying criminology at the University of Greenwich, was arrested at his aunt’s house in Purley on May 28. A number of knives were recovered from a bedroom at the property, and internet searches for “deadliest knife” and “Bournemouth CCTV” were found on his laptop. Judge Mrs. Justice Cutts declared that Saadi would face imprisonment for life, with a minimum term of “considerable length.” Ms. Gray’s wife, Sian Gray, affirmed that she would “never be forgotten.” In a statement issued following the trial verdict, she declared: “Amie’s life has been brutally taken, but now she can rest in peace.” She continued, “She touched the lives of so many. The immense support and love shown by everyone, reflects just that. Her strength lives on in all of us.”