Wenjing Lin: Murdered 'model student' had top GCSEs

Wenjing Lin was a 16-year-old "model student" who passed all her GSCEs with top A and A* grades.

But she never found out about her exam success. She was strangled by a family friend at her family's Chinese takeaway in Rhondda Cynon Taf on 5 March.

Wenjing's mother Meifang Xu said her daughter would never know the results "she had worked so hard for".

Her killing has also become part of wider calls for more action on violence against women.

Chun Xu, 32, has now been sentenced to a minimum of 30 years for her murder and the attempted murder of her stepfather.

During the trial Wenjing's mother described her only child as a "gentle and quiet soul", who was good at school and helped with the family business.

On the morning of her death, Wenjing was getting ready for school, messaging friends on Snapchat and had already logged on for a maths lesson.

Wenjing sent her last message just before 09:30 and did not respond to messages after that because "she had by now been killed by the defendant", prosecutor Michael Jones QC told the trial.

Jennifer Ford, her head teacher at Treorchy Comprehensive School, said she was a "model student".

Very strong academically and a hard worker, Wenjing was a "good mathematician" with her sights set on studying further maths the following year.

She was known for her a "quirky sense of humour" and was "very much the centre" of a group of friends.

Her English teacher, Huw James, said she was missed by her friends and all the staff "immensely".

She was the main English speaker in her family, and he said there was a "great sense of pride" from Wenjing's parents and the staff over her academic success.

Wenjing had "made the most of opportunities offered" to her, including becoming part of a cadet force and going on a school trip to Patagonia.

When she died, it had a "huge impact" on older and younger students as well as her own year group, Mrs Ford said.

"She'd made a really strong connection, not just with her own year group, but across the school," she said.

Her head teacher added that as the school came to deal with her loss, there were tears but also an enjoyment of the stories around Wenjing.

The Duchess of Cornwall named Wenjing alongside other victims of male violence, including Sarah Everard and Sabina Nessa, at an event on the culture around violence towards women.

"Each one of these women endured unimaginable torment," she said.

She also questioned whether people had become "indoctrinated into believing that violence against women is normal".

"How many more women must be harassed, raped or murdered before we truly unite to forge a violence free world?"

Gwendolyn Sterk, of Welsh Women's Aid, said the details of Wenjing's murder were "incredibly traumatic".

The fact her murderer was known to and trusted by her family was "sadly all too familiar a story", she said.

"We are horrified that yet another life has been taken at the hands of male violence and devastated to witness the grief of another family.

"Wenjing was attacked in the place she lived and worked, a place where she should have enjoyed safety and been able to thrive," she added.

Ms Sterk also said male violence against women and girls was at "epidemic rates" across Wales and the UK.

"It is imperative that prevention is highly prioritised by government and education systems, to tackle the systemic issues of a misogynistic society where such violence and abuse continues to thrive across communities in Wales," she said.

Mr Jenkins said it was "essential" to highlight the fact that violence against women and girls was taken seriously.

"Where we see such cases and the evidence exists, we will prosecute it as hard as we can in the courts with the appropriate charges."

Wenjing's murder was "shocking", said Iwan Jenkins, of the Crown Prosecution Service.

Chun Xu admitted strangling Wenjing to death, telling the jury that he wanted revenge on her mother. He also admitted attacking her 38-year-old stepfather Yongquan Jiang with two knives.

An hour before Wenjing was killed, the trial heard Xu had used a search engine to ask "can fingerprints be destroyed by fire?"

Wenjing was found lifeless lying on a black mat by the takeaway counter by her mother and stepfather.

Xu was thought of as a nephew to the teenager's mother, although there had been disagreements between their families in the past. He was a heavy gambler and owed Wenjing's family £14,000.

"I'm sure for the community that knew the deceased both in school and her family and friends, the death of such a young life in that way must be massively impacting upon them and disturbing," said Mr Jenkins.

"When it happens in small communities that are close, the impact is much greater and the importance therefore of ensuring thorough investigations and proper prosecutions is paramount," he said.

He added that the "callousness" of Xu's premeditation and Wenjing's young age made it an "unusual case".

"Gathering and taking a knife the day before, to where the incident was going to happen, the research that he undertook on the internet to gather ways of concealing evidence and in that way, certainly it was unusual."