The mother of a woman killed by her boyfriend has called for the Prime Minister to meet her over the “systemic collapse” of the justice system.
Gogoa Lois Tape, 28, was detained under the Mental Health Act last week for strangling 25-year-old Kennedi Westcarr-Sabaroche in Hackney, east London, in April last year.
He was originally accused of murder, but a guilty plea to manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility was accepted by prosecutors.
Judge Freya Newbery handed Tape a hospital order detaining him indefinitely and said he was an “undiagnosed schizophrenic” at the time of the attack who held “paranoid and persecutory delusions” which “substantially impaired” his judgment and exercise of self-control.
Linda Westcarr, Ms Westcarr-Sabaroche’s mother, sent a letter to Sir Keir Starmer calling for an independent review of the Crown Prosecution Service’s decision, claiming the justice system is complicit in the “erasure of women’s lives” in cases of domestic violence.
“This is not an isolated failure, it is a systemic collapse,” Ms Westcarr wrote to Sir Keir.
“In a world where you say domestic abuse must be eradicated, I saw the abuse my daughter endured literally eradicated by psychiatrists behind closed doors, explaining it all away as a demonstration of his mental illness.”
Ms Westcarr asked Sir Keir to set up an urgent meeting with her and her family “to hear directly how the system has failed and what must change”, and demanded that the meeting include the Lord Chancellor, the Home Secretary and the Victims Commissioner.
She claimed the CPS dismissed evidence of coercive control and premeditation by “choosing a narrative that favoured the defendant over the victim”.
“Tape has been detained in hospital, not prison,” she wrote. “He will be rehabilitated and released.
“And as her family, we are left with no idea whatsoever whether we can expect him to be on day release in 12 months or 12 years.
“And the public will be left with the chilling message that women can be killed with impunity if their killer is later deemed ‘unwell’.
“Prime Minister, this is not justice. It is a betrayal.”
Ms Westcarr called on Sir Keir to reform the use of psychiatric evidence in murder cases, and the sentencing process in cases involving diminished responsibility.
“I ask you to respond not with platitudes, but with urgent action,” she added.
After killing Ms Westcarr-Sabaroche, a court heard Tape drove her body around for hours before confessing to his brother that he had killed her.
A Crown Prosecution Service spokesperson said: “Our thoughts remain firmly with the family of Kennedi Westcarr-Sabaroche for their unimaginable loss.
“We accepted pleas of manslaughter by diminished responsibility against Gogoa Tape only after having carefully reviewed medical evidence from experts who agreed he was substantially impaired by delusions arising from schizophrenia.
“Nonetheless – Tape remains criminally responsible for his actions, regardless of the impact of his mental health on his culpability for this awful crime.
“Members of our prosecution team personally met with Ms Westcarr-Sabaroche’s family several times to explain our decision-making and will continue to be available to assist them.”
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