Woman admits murdering and dismembering Sarah Mayhew

A woman has admitted murdering a woman whose body parts were found in various locations in south and south-west London.

Sarah Mayhew, 38, was last seen in Sutton on the evening of 8 March. Some of her remains were found in Rowdown Field in Croydon on 2 April and more were discovered in the River Wandle, Mitcham, in May.

At the Old Bailey on Thursday Gemma Watts, 49, from Croydon, pleaded guilty to murder as well as perverting the course of justice.

Her partner Steven Sansom, 45, from Sutton in south-west London, admitted murder and perverting the course of justice at a previous hearing.

The couple will be sentenced in January at the Old Bailey although the date has not yet been confirmed by the court.

Judge Mark Lucraft KC said the only sentence that could be passed for both defendants was a life sentence.

The details of the charges included that Watts murdered Sarah Mayhew some time between between 7 March and 3 April 2024, and that during the same time period she perverted the course of justice by dismembering her body, disposing of it in various locations and then cleaning up the crime scene.

At the hearing Watts also denied three further counts of making indecent images of children, which will lie on file.

She pleaded not guilty to the following charges alleged to have taken place between 1 September 2023 and 6 April 2024:

• making 117 category A indecent images of children
• making 1 Category B indecent image of children
• making 154 Category C indecent images of children.

Sansom was previously convicted in 1999 for the murder of a cab driver, the Old Bailey previously heard.

In a prior hearing he denied three counts of making indecent images of children and the prosecution had said those charges would be left on file.

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