Linda Westcarr today lashed out after learning the Attorney General would not be referring Gogoa Tape’s sentence to the Court of Appeal after he killed Kennedi Westcarr-Sabaroche
The mum of a charity worker who was beaten and strangled to death by her cannabis-addict boyfriend today criticised the Attorney General for refusing to refer his sentence to the Court of Appeal.
Kennedi Westcarr-Sabaroche, 25, was killed in her car by partner Gogoa Tape, 28, the father of her two-year-old daughter. He then drove around with her lifeless body in the passenger seat for two hours. Last month Tape avoided jail after prosecutors dropped a murder charge when he offered to plead guilty to manslaughter by diminished responsibility, blaming his mental health problems.
He was handed an indefinite hospital order, which may see him detained for life – though he can be released if deemed well enough to leave. Today it emerged the Attorney General had refused to send the case back to court to be reassessed, sparking a furious response from Kennedi’s mum, Linda Westcarr.
She said: “We are devastated by the Attorney General’s decision not to refer Tape’s sentence for appeal. My daughter was taken from us in the most brutal way, and yet the system has once again silenced our family and failed to deliver justice. A hospital order is not justice for a life so cruelly stolen. We will continue to fight for reform so that no other family has to endure this nightmare and to ensure that victims’ voices are finally heard.”
Linda says she wrote to the Prime Minister calling for an urgent meeting to discuss this case and share their experiences of the justice system. The family say they have not received a response. In March last year, Tape accused Kennedi of cheating on him and she told him she wanted to end their relationship.
On April 5, Tape jumped into Kennedi’s SUV before punching her repeatedly in the head, throttling her and attempting to stab her with a kitchen knife in an eight-minute attack outside his home in Hackney, east London. He then placed her lifeless body in the car’s passenger seat and drove around for two hours – even stopping to buy cigarettes.
Kennedi’s family today made a series of demands, including an independent review of the CPS decision-making in this case, including the failure to pursue a murder charge and the lack of consultation with the victim’s family.
During Tape’s sentencing last month Judge Freya Newbery told him his culpability was “at the lower end’ because he was ‘in the grip of a major psychotic illness”. “Your psychosis wasn’t caused by cannabis use, but it was probably precipitated by it,” she said.
“The harm caused here is so high, the agony of the family so difficult to contemplate. But the need for punishment is substantially reduced because your offence is attributable to your mental illness.” The court heard Tape had undiagnosed schizophrenia with persecutory and paranoid delusions but failed to follow up appointments with an NHS psychiatrist.
However campaigners today criticised the court for failing to fully “scrutinise” Tape’s claim the attack was a result of his mental health. Hetti Barkworth-Nanton CBE, Chair of Refuge, said: “Kennedi Westcarr-Sabaroche was killed in a sustained attack by her estranged partner after being lured to the scene under false pretences.
“Unfortunately, his defence of diminished responsibility was not only accepted at plea without any scrutiny in court or challenge to very subjective judgements, but psychiatrists behind closed doors made the sweeping decision that all evidence of coercive and controlling behaviour and jealousy over a number of years was not in fact the behaviour of someone with a controlling personality, but in fact illustrative of his undiagnosed illness.
“Not only does this go beyond the remit of expert witnesses but sets an extremely dangerous precedent in the way in which domestic abuse may be considered through a criminal justice system that is already not trusted by survivors.
“For this reason, we support the family’s call for an urgent review into the decision making in this case. Kennedi has not seen justice in death which sends the message that women’s lives aren’t valued. Something has to change.”
Ngozi Fulani, Founder & CEO of Sistah Space, states: “We share Kennedi Westcarr-Sabaroche’s family’s outrage at the Attorney General’s refusal to review the sentence – yet another failure in a case that shows how deeply the system undervalues Black women’s lives.
“When a victim is murdered by her abuser and the killer receives a hospital order, justice has not been served. With Black women making up 62% of femicide victims in London last year and most saying they don’t trust authorities, urgent reform is needed – of the diminished responsibility defence, and through a full review of Kennedi’s case to ensure accountability. Sistah Space stands with Kennedi’s family. We will not be silent.”