CPS statement on sentence of Steven Sansom and Gemma Watts

A couple who murdered a woman before dismembering and disposing of her body parts have been sentenced to life imprisonment.

Steven Sansom, 45, and Gemma Watts, 49, both pleaded guilty to murder and perverting the course of justice after they killed Sarah Mayhew to satisfy their shared sexual and sadistic fantasy.

Sansom was sentenced to a whole life order and Watts was sentenced to life imprisonment, with a minimum term of 30 years, at the Old Bailey on 30 January 2025.

Aisling Hosein, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Sarah Mayhew tragically died at the hands of two people who were as depraved, cruel and wicked as each other.

“The prosecution demonstrated that Steven Sansom and Gemma Watts exchanged a vast number of messages between them in their seven-month relationship, many of which centred on their shared sexual fantasies and sadistic appetites – this included a desire to kill someone for their own sexual gratification.

“Having murdered Sarah in what can only be described as horrific and unthinkable circumstances, Sansom and Watts went on to dismember and dispose of her body disposing parts of her body in various locations in an attempt to conceal their crime.

“Extensive analysis of messages, voice notes and CCTV footage, as well as evidence of an attempted cleanup operation, proved that Sansom and Watts were the last to see Sarah, having lured her to Sansom’s flat in March 2024.

“Our thoughts remain with Sarah’s family, who have suffered the loss of a loved one in the most harrowing circumstances. We hope today’s sentences bring them some small measure of solace as they mourn their loss.”