Convicted Wolverhampton murderer gets sentence increase after killing cellmate
A man who killed his cellmate while in custody awaiting trial has had his sentence extended.
Vitale Tanga, aged 41, originally from Moldova but living in Wolverhampton, has had his sentence increased by five years after the Solicitor General referred his case to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence (ULS) scheme.
The court heard how in September 2022, Tanga had strangled his cellmate, Tajiner Kular, with a kettle cord.
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Kular was discovered unconscious by officers and was taken to the prison hospital.
However, Kular died in October 2022, following complications arising from resuscitation and cardiac arrest, and ligature strangulation.
A postmortem found he had ligature marks around his neck, as well as bruising to his face, and several broken bones in his neck.
At the time of the murder of Mr Kular, Vitale Tanga was on remand in prison awaiting trial for assault and investigation for the unrelated murder of Alfred Mattox in 2021.
Tanga was originally sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 25 years for Mr Mattox's murder, then on July 3, 2025, following his trial for Mr Kular's murder, he was sentenced to life with a minimum of 27 years and 6 months, to run concurrently with his previous sentence.
The Solicitor General Ellie Reeves MP said: "Vitale Tanga is a violent man, who murdered two men in brutal attacks.
"He has not taken any responsibility for his actions, and I welcome the court’s decision to extend his sentence after he killed his cellmate, keeping this dangerous offender off our streets and keeping our communities safe."
On November 25, 2025, the Court of Appeal extended Vitale Tanga's sentence by 5 years to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 32 years and 6 months.