Trials
An Old Bailey jury found Deepak Sandhu guilty of murdering Xiaoqing Ke in an Earls Court Airbnb.
The Metropolitan Police, BBC News, The Independent, and The Standard reported that on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026, a jury at the Old Bailey found Deepak Sandhu, 24, of Southampton, guilty of murdering Xiaoqing Ke, 39. BBC News and The Standard reported the jury also found him guilty of perverting the course of justice. Judge Philip Katz KC set sentencing for Friday, Oct. 16.
By Crime Talk Network Staff Writer ·
Thursday's verdicts are what the jury found after about two hours. Sentencing is still ahead. The Old Bailey heard that the relationship broke down after Sandhu stole money from Ke, that he traveled from Southampton with a knife, and that he tried to leave for Mumbai afterward. Judge Philip Katz KC has not imposed a sentence.
The Metropolitan Police said that at the Old Bailey on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026, Deepak Sandhu, 24, of Newlands Avenue, Southampton, was found guilty of murdering Xiaoqing Ke, 39. BBC News reported the jury of seven women and five men deliberated for about two hours and also found him guilty of perverting the course of justice. BBC News reported those verdicts were unanimous, and that Sandhu nodded slightly as they were read. The Independent and The Standard reported the murder verdict the same day. Judge Philip Katz KC told him sentencing would be Friday, BBC News reported. The Metropolitan Police said that hearing is Friday, Oct. 16, at the Old Bailey.
BBC News reported the Old Bailey heard that Sandhu met Ke in Southampton in early 2025 while she was working at a brothel, and that prosecutors described a relationship of sorts that soured after he stole from her. BBC News reported he had been thrown off an IT course at Southampton Solent University for poor attendance, that his visa had been revoked, and that he was working as a casual laborer while telling her he was an actor and a model. They had no language in common and used Google Translate, BBC News reported. The Standard reported he admitted taking £500 from her handbag. Ke later moved to a rented Airbnb on Old Brompton Road in Earls Court. She is the woman the jury convicted him of killing.
The Metropolitan Police said officers were called on Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025, to an address on Old Brompton Road and found Ke inside with multiple stab wounds. The same account says that on Tuesday, Dec. 9, Sandhu traveled from Southampton with a knife after arranging to meet her, tried to hide his identity, and stabbed her after he was let in. He left about 90 minutes later, the Metropolitan Police said. BBC News reported he bought the knives at a supermarket, that a Ring doorbell recorded him arriving in a baseball cap with his face wrapped in a scarf, and that prosecutor Caroline Carberry KC described the attack as planned. BBC News reported neighbors raised the alarm the next morning after seeing blood, and that his blood was found at the scene.
The Metropolitan Police said that after he left he tried to get out of the country. He falsely told a family member that another man had killed Ke while he was there, and he booked a flight to Mumbai. BBC News reported he changed the SIM card in his phone and sent his sister a voice message claiming a professional armed with a knife and a gun had killed Ke, and that the Mumbai ticket was one-way. Officers stopped him on Friday, Dec. 12, 2025, on a coach headed for the airport, the Metropolitan Police said. BBC News reported the coach was a National Express to Birmingham Airport. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Sandhu was presumed innocent through the trial. Thursday's verdicts are the jury's finding on the murder count and on perverting the course of justice. Judge Philip Katz KC had not sentenced him.
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