'Bloodthirsty' couple jailed for dismembering woman
A builder who committed the "bloodthirsty" murder of a 38-year-old woman and then dismembered her body has been jailed for the rest of his life.
Steven Sansom, 45, from Sutton, was handed a "whole life order" at the Old Bailey on Thursday after pleading guilty to the murder of Sarah Mayhew last year and perverting the course of justice - meaning he will never be released from prison.
His partner, Gemma Watts, 49, from Croydon, was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 30 years after also admitting to the murder of Ms Mayhew and trying to hide the victim's remains in a south London park.
The court heard Sansom had murdered before - serving nearly 20 years in prison.
Warning: The following story contains distressing details
Sentencing the pair on Thursday, Mrs Justice Cutts said Ms Mayhew's "greatest misfortune was to know the two of you".
The judge said she was "quite certain" that graphic messages of sexual violence between Sansom and Watts moved from fantasy to a plan to involve a third party, who they planned to murder.
When Sansom had contacted Ms Mayhew "he had murder in mind" - she had been taken to his flat for "depraved and violent sexual activity", the court heard.
"Her fear and suffering must have been acute as she realised why she was there and what was happening," the judge added.
"She was an innocent woman lured to that flat to die," she added, so the pair could act out their "bloodthirsty and wicked fantasy".
Prior to sentencing, in a statement read to the court, Ms Mayhew's father, David Mayhew, said: "I ask myself the same question all the time 'why did you have to kill her?' Maybe I will never know."
He thanked the killers for pleading guilty to murder and sparing the family the ordeal of having to go through a trial.
"That said, whatever sentence you receive will never compare to the pain you have caused us," he said.
Ms Mayhew's mother, Angela, said she missed her "beautiful, pretty girl".
"It breaks my heart she is not around, I miss Sarah all the time," she said.
Alexandra Healy KC, the defence barrister for Sansom, said he accepted a whole life order was appropriate in this case, even though he had pleaded guilty.
Before the murder, the killers exchanged "depraved" messages detailing a desire to kill people with a knife or knives while engaged in sexual activity.
Prosecutor Tom Little KC said it was a killing that involved sexual and "sadistic" conduct.
Ms Mayhew had accompanied Sansom to his flat in Burnell Road, Sutton, at about 23:00 GMT on 8 March 2024.
"From that point in time she was never seen again and she never left that property alive," said Mr Little.
"How long she lived for only the defendants know and they have never said.
"What precisely happened to her body after she had been murdered by them in the property only the defendants know."
Ms Mayhew's head and limbs were found more than eight miles (nearly 13km) away in Rowdown Field in New Addington on 2 April, the court heard.
Her torso was discovered later in the River Wandle.
She had been living at Friars Wood in Croydon at the time of her death and knew both Sansom and Watts, who was also from Croydon, Mr Little said.
Messages between the killers indicated that Ms Mayhew introduced them to each other in the summer of 2023.
By the time of the murder, Sansom and Watts had been in a sexual relationship for seven months.
"Messages indicate that from the early stages their relationship was characterised by sado-masochistic violence," said Mr Little.
"Such was the intensity of the defendant's relationship at this early stage that they referred to dying together if they were ever caught."
He added "given the messages sent between the defendants" it was not possible to conclude Ms Mayhew was killed immediately.
After the murder, Sansom said: "We're not evil, we're not evil. We done the world a service."
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Couple admit murdering and dismembering Sarah Mayhew
Man admits murdering and dismembering Sarah Mayhew
Remains found in river believed to be Sarah Mayhew
Hunt for woman's remains continues, Old Bailey hears
HM Courts & Tribunals Service
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