Man convicted of murdering and dismembering woman set to die in prison

A couple who killed a woman and dumped her dismembered body in a park have been jailed for life.

Steven Sansom and his partner Gemma Watts, 49, previously pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to the murder of Sarah Mayhew, 38, and perverting the course of justice.

Mrs Justice Cutts sentenced Samson to life imprisonment for murder with a whole life order, which means he will never be released from prison, and five years for perverting the course of justice to run concurrently.

It is the second life sentence for Sansom, 45, who was jailed for robbing and murdering a taxi driver in 1999 and released from prison on licence in 2019.

Watts held back tears as she was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 30 years, along with five years for perverting the course of justice.

If she is ever released, she will spend the rest of her life on licence.

The couple are said to have known Ms Mayhew, who was found dead in Rowdown Fields, New Addington in south London, after police were alerted to the discovery of human remains on 2 April last year.

The judge said that Sansom "had murder in mind" and that Watts, who was obsessed with him, took part in the murder.

Ms Mayhew was never seen again after she joined Sansom, whom she had met years before on a dating site, at his ground floor flat in Sutton at about 11pm on March 8 2024.

The judge said: "Her fear and suffering must have been acute as she realised why she was there and what was happening.

"She was an innocent woman lured to that flat to die in order for you could both act out your bloodthirsty and wicked fantasy."

Sansom is believed to have used the name Red Rum, which is murder spelt backwards, on his profile on Facebook.

On 10 March, a post appeared on the account saying: "Best friends are those who don't say anything when you show up at their door with a dead body. They just grab a shovel and follow you."

The pair sat quietly in the dock as details of their "kinky" sexual relationship - including a stream of messages between them about bestiality, humiliation and causing hurt - were outlined at their sentencing hearing.

They indulged in "depraved conversation about sexual activity" and the graphic messages between them soon evolved into becoming more than fantasy.

The judge said there was a "clear and proper inference in my view that this murder involved sexual and sadistic conduct."

Sansom, from Sutton, southwest London, robbed and slashed the neck of 59-year-old married father-of-two Terence Boyle on Christmas Eve 1998.

He ordered a cab to take him home from East Croydon before attacking driver Mr Boyle, who was described as "a quiet, gentle, unassuming family man".

He crawled dying from his cab after Sansom attacked him and stole £25 to buy Christmas presents.

Sansom, then 20, laughed afterwards and told a friend: "His kids are going to have to see him in hospital over Christmas," the court heard at the time.

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