Sutton couple dumped woman's dismembered body in park

Sarah Mayhew's dismembered body was found by a dog walker in Rowdown Fields, New Addington, on April 2.

Gemma Watts, 49, and Steve Sansom, 45, were arrested and charged with murdering Ms Mayhew between March 7 and April 3.

The defendants were said to have known the 38-year-old victim, who lived in New Addington.

Sansom is believed to use a profile name of Red Rum on Facebook, which is murder spelt backwards.

On March 10, a post appeared on the Red Rum account saying: “Best friends are those who don’t say anything when you show up at their door with a dead body. They just grab a shovel and follow you.”

Court sketch of Gemma Watts, 49, and Steve Sansom, 45 (Image: PA/Elizabeth Cook) Sansom, of Burnell Road, Sutton, had previously 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.

On Thursday (November 21) Watts, of Featherbed Lane in New Addington, pleaded guilty to murder and perverting the course of justice, but denied three charges of making indecent images of a child, which will lie on the court file.

Sarah Mayhew (Image: Met Police) After Watts’ plea at the Old Bailey, Judge Mark Lucraft KC adjourned sentencing to a date to be fixed in January.

The judge said that the only sentence that could be passed for both defendants was a life sentence.

Members of Ms Mayhew’s family attended the short court hearing.

At a previous hearing for Watts, prosecutor Tom Little KC said: “The prosecution case here is that on the night of March 8 the victim was murdered in the co-defendant’s (Sansom’s) property, with both the defendants being present, and thereafter there was both a significant clear-up operation and the disposal of the body of the deceased.”

Watts, who was linked to the crime scene by phone evidence, was remanded into custody.