Couple admit murdering and dismembering Sarah Mayhew

A woman has admitted murdering a woman whose body parts were found in various locations in south and south-west London.

Sarah Mayhew, 38, was last seen in Sutton on the evening of 8 March. Some of her remains were found in Rowdown Field in Croydon in April and more were discovered in the River Wandle, Mitcham, in May.

Gemma Watts, 49, from Croydon, pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to murder and perverting the course of justice.

Her partner Steven Sansom, 45, from Sutton in south-west London, had previously admitted the same offences.

The couple will be sentenced in January at the Old Bailey although the date has not yet been confirmed.

Judge Mark Lucraft KC said the only sentence that could be passed for each defendant was a life sentence.

The details of the charges included that Watts murdered Sarah Mayhew some time between between 7 March and 3 April 2024, and that during the same time period she perverted the course of justice by dismembering her body, disposing of it in various locations and then cleaning up the crime scene.

At the hearing Watts denied three further counts of making indecent images of children, which will lie on file.

Sansom had previously been convicted in 1999, when he was a teenager, for the murder of a cab driver.

Convicted murderers spend the rest of their life on licence if they are released from prison, and have to comply with certain conditions, including being subject to supervision by probation officials.

An investigation is usually carried out when another serious offence is committed while on licence or under probation supervision.

The Ministry of Justice confirmed a serious further offence review is currently under way.

It is yet to confirm whether any disciplinary action has been taken against any probation staff.

In a prior hearing Sansom also denied three counts of making indecent images of children and the prosecution had said those charges would be left on file.

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