Man who killed his girlfriend in car detained with hospital order

A 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.

Following the hearing earlier, the family of Kennedi Westcarr-Sabaroche demanded a review of the sentence Tape received.

Tape killed his long-term girlfriend, with whom he shares a young daughter, on the evening of 5 April last year.

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 killing her, Tape moved her body from the driver’s seat to the passenger seat, buckled the seat belt and drove away.

He later bought cigarettes and used Ms Westcarr-Sabaroche’s phone to text her friend, pretending to be the victim.

The following morning, he confessed to his brother.

After he was detained, Tape told officers: “I lost my head, I’ve been losing my head the last two or three years.”

Subsequently, a court was told the defendant’s mental health began to decline in 2023, with Tape becoming paranoid and then jealous.

He had some contact with mental health services that year and was warned to abstain from cannabis, which he had smoked since 2014.

Judge Freya Newbery said he was at the time an “undiagnosed schizophrenic” who held “paranoid and persecutory delusions”.

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.

Linda Westcarr, Ms Westcarr-Sabaroche’s mother, told reporters outside court she believed Tape should have been sent to prison and that the case exposed the “brokenness of our justice system”.

“How can this be right? How is the public safe if killers are treated as patients, not criminals?

“What deterrent is there for violent men if they see no real consequence of killing women?”

Ms Westcarr added that the family would seek an urgent review of the sentence on the grounds of “undue leniency”.

Earlier, Judge Newbery referenced the victim impact statements Ms Westcarr-Sabaroche’s mother and sisters previously made, telling Tape in court: “She was a bright and beautiful young woman, I heard, and still only 25”.

She added: “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”.

She added that her granddaughter “still asks for her mummy… she asks questions that no child should ever have to ask”.

“This wasn’t just one life lost, it was a family shattered,” added Ms Westcarr.