University dropout Deepak Sandhu, 24, has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 28 years after murdering 39-year-old Xiaoqing Ke in a "brutal and fatal revenge" attack at an Airbnb in Earl's Court, West London. A jury at the Old Bailey unanimously found him guilty of murder and perverting the course of justice by attempting to flee the country.
Murder and arrest
Sandhu bought knives in Asda before travelling to Earl's Court, where he killed Ms Ke and fled the scene. She was found face down on the bedroom floor of the bedsit on December 10 last year with a deep stab wound to her neck.
Police searched her phone and found messages between Ms Ke and Sandhu, who had become obsessed with her after she ended a brief relationship. Blood samples from the scene matched Sandhu, and he was arrested in December while travelling on a National Express coach from Southampton to Birmingham Airport.
Relationship and lies
During the trial, prosecutor Caroline Carberry KC told the court Sandhu was a "fantasist" who had made false claims about his life and had stolen £500 from Ms Ke. She said: "Xiaoqing Ke was murdered that evening by Deepak Sandhu who had become an obsessed, manipulative young man who could not accept her rejection of him and carried out a brutal and fatal revenge attack on her before attempting to leave the country."
The court heard Sandhu, an Indian national, entered the UK in September 2024 on a student visa, which was revoked six months later when he dropped out of university in Southampton. Ms Ke, a Chinese national, arrived on a standard visitor's visa around the same time. The pair began a secret relationship communicating via a translation app after meeting when Ms Ke worked at a brothel in Southampton and Sandhu was a customer.
Ms Carberry said Sandhu falsely claimed to be a model and actor, fabricated a trip to the United States for an audition, and told Ms Ke he would attend a graduation ceremony at Southampton Solent University that did not exist. He admitted taking the money but invented a story about being robbed of £3,500 at gunpoint in the US and claimed to have a job at a bank paying £6,000 a month.
Revenge and sentencing
Ms Ke called him a "liar" and demanded repayment, telling him: "Don't come see me. I'm clear, I'm not a fool." Sandhu told her former brothel boss she "will regret what she has done" and asked a friend on WhatsApp: "Do you think I have to take my revenge on her?" Doorbell camera footage showed him arriving at her Airbnb with his face covered and wearing a baseball cap, leaving after about 90 minutes.
After the killing, Sandhu phoned his sister in India and booked a flight from Birmingham to Mumbai. He denied killing her, claiming she was alive when he left and that he was in another room when she was attacked.
Shikha Varma, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: "Xiaoqing Ke saw through Deepak Sandhu's many lies and, when she rejected him and ended their relationship, he reacted by taking her life in a calculated and brutal attack. The CPS remains committed to ensuring perpetrators like Sandhu, who commit such horrific violence against women and girls, are robustly prosecuted and face the full force of the law."
Met Police Detective Chief Inspector Wayne Jolley said: "Xiaoqing's family have been through an unimaginably painful time, and our thoughts remain with them. Our team uncovered vital evidence which showed Sandhu had become fixated on Xiaoqing and had subjected her to a tirade of controlling and abusive messages before ultimately deciding to end her life." He added that tackling violence against women and girls remains a key priority for the force.
