Hackney (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Young mum Kennedi was strangled by her cannabis-addict boyfriend in a brutal car killing in Hackney, sparking outrage and calls for justice.
In a horrific eight-minute assault, Gogoa Tape, 28, killed charity worker Kennedi Westcarr-Sabaroche by throttling her, repeatedly beating her while she was seated in the driver’s seat, and trying to stab her with a kitchen knife.
In order to prevent neighbors from interfering, Tape, also known as Lois, relocated Ms. Westcarr-Sabaroche to the passenger seat after she took her own life and drove off.
The Inner London Crown Court heard Tape used his girlfriend’s phone to send a message to a friend pretending to be Ms. Westcarr-Sabaroche while he drove to the shops for cigarettes with her dead body in the car.
Her body was found in a car on Hackney‘s Whiston Road, and the tape failed to raise any alarms. He didn’t inform anyone about the death until over six hours after the deadly incident.
The court heard that Tape continued to use narcotics when his mental health was deteriorating and smoked cannabis every day.
The Crown Prosecution Service decided to withdraw a murder prosecution when he entered a guilty plea to manslaughter by diminished responsibility, which infuriated Ms. Westcarr-Sabaroche’s distraught family.
“It is deeply painful to know that despite the overwhelming truth of what Tape did, the legal system has given room to this version of events, in a system meant to protect the innocent”,
Ms Westcarr-Sabaroche’s mother Linda told the sentencing hearing.
“That too is a gaping wound.”
In court, Ms. Westcarr-Sabaroche’s family members gave victim impact statements; however, they claimed that their testimonies had been heavily “redacted” prior to the hearing.
Danielle, Ms. Westcarr-Sabaroche’s sister, stated in the passages she was permitted to read that she has “received no support, no statutory help, and no financial aid” as she copes with the death’s devastating repercussions.
She claimed that after ten years of working in mental health therapy, she now finds it difficult to empathize with patients because of the death of her sister.
“It is deeply painful that the system I contributed to now feels like it is protecting the perpetrator, not the victim.”
Ms. Westcarr-Sabaroche was an apprentice for the Prince’s organization, a social media assistant for the Marie Curie organization, and a two-time visitor to the King.
Her mother told the court:
“She was my best friend, my soulmate, the life of our family, she was selfless, intelligent, strong, and full of life.”
Turning to Tape, she said Ms Westcarr-Sabaroche had supported him and “you repaid her with jealousy, control, and finally fatal rage.”
The court heard Ms Westcarr-Sabaroche’s daughter was just weeks away from her second birthday when her mother was killed, on April 5 last year.
Prosecutor Julia Faure Walker told the court:
“He killed his 25-year-old girlfriend, Kennedi Westcarr-Sabaroche, on 5 April 2024. Her death was caused by manual compression to the neck. There were also blunt force injuries consistent with his punching her several times, and incised wounds to her hands consistent with defending herself from a knife attack.
The defendant had brought a kitchen knife with him. The killing took place from around 11.25pm, when he lunged towards her for eight minutes.
After the killing, he moved her from the driver’s seat to the passenger seat and buckled the seatbelt, he drove away so that the neighbours would not see, he continued to drive around the local area with her slumped next to him.
He parked the car and bought cigarettes from a shop, and sent a message from the deceased’s phone to her friend’s phone pretending to be her, alluding to infidelity which the defendant had been accusing her of.
Despite having access to her phone and his phone, he did not summon help. About 6-and-a-half hours after the killing, during which time phone calls from deceased’s mother had been ignored, he confessed to his brother that he had killed her.”
Issues started to surface, such as Tape discussing the “devil” and making baseless claims against Ms. Westcarr-Sabaroche’s adultery.
The court also heard that Ms. Westcarr-Sabaroche sent messages indicating that she was afraid Tape’s unpredictable behavior may turn violent.
Tape prepared a knife for the attack and drove to Bruce Grove station, where he was picked up by Ms. Westcarr-Sabaroche in her mother’s Vauxhall Mokka.
She escorted him to Bowes Park and back, and then to Talavera Place in Hackney’s Whiston Estate, where the murder occurred. This was close to Tape’s house, which was on the other side of the Regent’s Canal.
The hearing for sentencing is still ongoing.
How have Kennedi’s family and community responded?
Following Kennedi’s untimely passing, her family and community have expressed their profound shock and sorrow. Her loved ones remembered her as a fun-loving, loving young mother who was devoted to her daughter, and they offered passionate tributes to her. Family members have been shocked by the loss, praising her kind nature and expressing sadness over the terrible circumstances.
Many members of the Hackney community have expressed their shock and grief over Kennedi’s passing, underscoring the heinousness of her murder. Calls for increased help and understanding to safeguard vulnerable people have been sparked by the occurrence, which has raised awareness of domestic violence and substance abuse issues.
Support networks and residents have rallied around the family, offering condolences and emphasizing the need for community solidarity in the face of such tragedies.