Man on trial for 'brutal and fatal revenge' murder of ex-girlfriend in London
A court in London has heard how a 24-year-old former student allegedly murdered his ex-girlfriend after she discovered he had stolen money from her. The defendant denies the charges.
A trial has opened at London's Old Bailey against 24-year-old former student Deepak Sandhu, accused of murdering his ex-girlfriend, 39-year-old Xiaoqing Ke. Sandhu has pleaded not guilty to both murder and perverting the course of justice.
Prosecutor Caroline Carberry KC told the jury that Sandhu and Ke, who was from China, met in early 2025 while she was working at a brothel. The pair stayed in contact after Ke moved from Southampton to London.
Relationship breakdown
The prosecution said the relationship deteriorated after Ke discovered that Sandhu, a former Southampton Solent University student, had been stealing from her. He admitted taking £500 from her handbag and subsequently made increasingly desperate, unsuccessful attempts to repair the relationship.
Carberry said Sandhu continued to pester Ke with calls and texts until arranging to meet her one evening in December 2025. He had bought a set of knives from a Southampton supermarket and, wearing a baseball cap and face coverings, was captured on a Ring doorbell camera arriving at her flat on Old Brompton Road in the Earls Court area.
Killing and arrest
The court heard that Sandhu left the flat 90 minutes later, by which time Ke was dead. The alarm was raised the next morning when neighbours noticed bloodstains on her door and in a communal area of the building. Her body was found on her bedroom floor by two police officers.
The jury heard that Sandhu was later seen with injuries to his arm, and his blood was found at the scene. He reportedly attempted to flee the country, booking a one-way flight to Mumbai and changing the SIM card in his phone, but was arrested on a coach heading for Birmingham airport. The trial continues.
