Family handoutA man who killed his partner in a car in east London and drove her body around before confessing to his brother hours later has been sentenced to a hospital order.
Kennedi Westcarr-Sabaroche, 25, was found dead in the Vauxhall car in Whiston Road, Hackney, on 6 April last year, having been strangled.
Her boyfriend, Gogoa Lois Tape, 28, previously admitted manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility and carrying a knife. Inner London Crown Court heard he used cannabis and had “undiagnosed” schizophrenia at the time of the attack.
During a sentencing hearing, the court heard that Ms Westcarr-Sabaroche was a “bright and beautiful young woman” who had a young daughter with Tape.
About 40 of Ms Westcarr-Sabaroche’s loved ones sat in the court on Monday as Tape was handed a hospital order under the Mental Health Act, which could see him detained indefinitely.
‘A family shattered’
Judge Freya Newbery referenced the victim impact statements Ms Westcarr-Sabaroche’s mother and sisters made previously, telling Tape in court: “She was a bright and beautiful young woman, I heard, and still only 25.
“That daughter – her daughter and your daughter – is left motherless and the victim of what you did, not just at the time, but she has to carry that around with her, her whole life – her father killed her mother.
“The family is, I learned, and it is obvious, left shattered and broken.”
Linda Westcarr, Ms Westcarr-Sabaroche’s mother, previously told the court that her daughter was “brutally taken by someone she trusted”.
Ms Westcar added that her granddaughter “still asks for her mummy… she asks questions that no child should ever have to ask”.
Ms Westcarr added: “This wasn’t just one life lost, it was a family shattered.”
Met PoliceTape killed his long-term girlfriend on the evening of 5 April last year and her death was caused by “manual compression to the neck”, Inner London Crown Court previously heard.
She had also been punched several times and had other wounds suggesting she tried to defend herself from a knife attack.
After the killing, Tape moved Ms Westcarr-Sabaroche from the driver’s seat to the passenger seat and buckled the seat belt and drove away.
He later bought cigarettes and used her phone to text her friend, pretending to be the victim.
The following morning, he woke his brother at about 06:00 BST, confessing “I killed Kennedi, bro”, the court was told.
After he was detained, Tape told officers: “I lost my head, I’ve been losing my head the last two or three years.”
Judge Newbery said he was at the time an “undiagnosed schizophrenic” who held “paranoid and persecutory delusions”.
Tape and Ms Westcarr-Sabaroche met when they were teenagers in college about 10 years ago.
The defendant’s mental health began to decline in 2023, with Tape becoming paranoid and then jealous, the court heard.
He had some contact with mental health services that year and was warned to abstain from cannabis, which he had smoked since 2014.
