A 23-year-old British man has been sentenced to life in prison for murdering his 19-year-old Canadian girlfriend after she travelled to the UK to meet him.
Jack Sepple met Ashley Wadsworth when he was 15 and she was 12, and the pair had on-off contact over the years. During her gap year, Ashley got a six-month tourist visa to visit Sepple in the UK.
Sepple admitted killing Ashley at his Essex home on 1 February just days before she was due to be reunited with family in Canada.
Ashley, from Vernon in British Colombia, died from stab wounds to the chest. Wounds were found to her heart, lung, liver and stomach, and bruises were found on her face, neck, and both arms and legs, Chelmsford Crown Court heard.
Sentencing Sepple to life with a minimum term of 23 years and six months on Monday, Justice Murray described Ashley as a “young woman with a loving nature”, who was “clearly deeply loved by her family”.
Addressing Sepple, the judge said: “It is wholly beyond doubt that you killed Ashley in a brutal and violent attack.”
Prosecution lawyers told the court that Ashley had used Sepple’s Facebook account to contact some friends and plead for help on the day of her death.
Two friends, who had met Ashley through their shared Mormon faith, went to the Essex home where Ashley was staying and, when they weren’t let in, called 999.
Sepple video-called his sister after he killed Ashley and showed her Ashley’s lifeless body, the court heard.
Following the news of Ashley’s death, one of Sepple’s previous partners contacted the police and told them he was unpredictable, jealous and insecure, the court heard.
She told the police that Sepple had put his hands around her throat when she told him she wanted to break up with him, the prosecution said.
The court was told that Sepple had a history of harassment of previous partners and two other women had obtained restraining orders against him.
In addition to this, his mother obtained a restraining order against him in 2014 after he dragged her to the floor during an argument.
Sentencing Sepple, Justice Murray said: “Your criminal record shows a clear history of violent and controlling behaviour towards a number of women.”
Speaking at Sepple’s sentencing hearing, Ashley’s mother Christy Gendron said that family birthdays and holidays will “remain a constant source of pain because there will always be an empty seat at the table”.
“Ashley’s love for Jack ultimately cost her her life,” she said.
“Ashley is my baby and the trauma of her murder has had a profound impact on my life... I am constantly on edge and in fear. I only sleep an hour or two at a time as the nightmare of her last moments is all I can think about.”
She added: “My life and those of my family will never be the same. This is a nightmare that thanks to you, Jack, we will never wake up from.”
Ashley’s father Ken Wadsworth told the court that he had been against her taking her trip to the UK.
He described Ashley as “a caring person” and said she “would have wanted to help [Jack] with anything that he was going through and I wish she had just left.”
He said her death has put a strain on his marriage and said that he now finds it hard to go into public places, for fear of people speaking to him about Ashley’s murder.
“I was outgoing before Ashley’s murder and now I’m not the same Ken I used to be. I feel uncomfortable going out,” he said.
“You need to know, Jack, you need to accept the brutality of what you have done and the never-ending pain you have caused my family. It is because of your choices, I hope you sit and think long and hard about what you have done.”
Speaking ahead of the sentencing hearing, Ashley’s grandfather Jeff Wadsworth, 66, said the family was “just devastated” after her death.
“I can’t believe it. I encouraged her to go – I thought it was going to be the time of her life.
“I never thought something like this would happen in England –I thought it was the safest place in the world. And it is a safe place – this is such a not-normal thing,” he said.
Family members said that they had tried to get her an earlier plane ticket back to Canada. Ashley’s cousin Kali told journalists that Sepple had been “very possessive” over Ashley’s belongings, especially her mobile phone.
“He was going through her social media. The reason this entire fight started from the beginning was because he had seen an old chat where she flirted with somebody.
“He freaked out over it and Ashley was on FaceTime with Hailey [Ashley’s sister] and she watched him just start beating her. Then [Hailey] reached out and tried to get her an earlier plane ticket.
“He had logged into all her social media, deleted all her posts and changed all her passwords and smashed her phone,” she said.
“Ashley couldn’t call for help – she was in a whole different country, even if she could call for help, who would she call apart from the police?”
