A double murderer lured a woman to her death at his home by asking her “fancy a little party?”. Builder Steve Sansom was out of prison on life licence for another murder when he killed Sarah Mayhew, 38, and dumped her remains in Rowdown Fields, New Addington, south London, last spring. The 45-year-old and his partner Gemma Watts, 49, admitted murder and perverting the course of justice by dismembering Ms Mayhew’s body, distributing the parts at “various locations” and cleaning up the scene, the Old Bailey heard.

Mrs Justice Cutts sentenced Samson to life imprisonment for murder with a whole life order, which means he will never be released from prison. He was also sentenced to five years for perverting the course of justice to run concurrently. Watts held back tears as she was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 30 years along with five years for perverting the course of justice to run concurrently. If she is ever released, she will spend the rest of her life on licence. During the trial prosecutor Tom Little KC told how Sansom invited Ms Mayhew to join him “ostensibly for drugs and sexual activity”.

He told the court: “I’m having a little party on my own and I’m horny as f***… I’ve got white but no dark. Call me asap” and “I’ve got money for dark but I can’t get it. Fancy a little party?” Later that evening Sansom messaged “Please call I’ll wait until 22:00 to start my party, after that, we both miss out”. The defendants were said to have known Ms Mayhew, who lived in New Addington, on the outskirts of Croydon. Ms Mayhew was never seen again after she joined Samson, whom she had met years before on a dating site, at his ground floor flat in Sutton at about 11pm on March 8 2024. Watts was already at the property.

Ms Mayhew’s head and limbs were found more than eight miles away in Rowdown Field in New Addington, just over three weeks later on April 2 2024. Her torso was discovered much later in the River Wandle and some pieces of evidence were destroyed or disposed of by the defendants, the court heard. The prosecution believes Ms Mayhew must have been killed or incapacitated inside Sansom’s flat on the night of March 8 to 9 2024 and, given the messages sent between the defendants in the months before, “it is not credible to conclude that she was killed immediately,” Mr Little KC said.

Sansom later tried to justify what they had done, saying: “We’re not evil, we done the world a service.” Mr Little KC told the court: “The defendants acting together conducted the planned and premeditated bloodthirsty murder of Sarah Mayhew. It is a murder which the prosecution submit involved sexual and/or sadistic conduct. “Having committed the murder they then made very extensive efforts to pervert the course of justice over a number of days. Prior to the murder, the defendants had exchanged a range of depraved messages including those indicating a desire on their part to kill victims whilst involved in sexual activity with them, with a knife or knives, and then have sex with each other whilst covered in the blood of the victim and they even discussed eating human flesh but we do not suggest they did so.”.