A MAN IN the UK has been jailed for 26 years for the murder of a woman he was on a first date with.
Carl Langdell from the town of Cheshunt in Hertfordshire pleaded guilty to the murder of Katie Locke before St Albans Crown Court in March and was sentenced today.
He had met the 23-year-old teacher through a dating website, and went on their first date in London on 23 December.
That evening they returned to Cheshunt, and went to Theobalds Hotel.
Locke’s body was discovered the following day in the grounds of the hotel, and it was found that she had been strangled.
Langdell was arrested the following morning at a park in the area.
Presiding over the case was Judge Andrew Bright QC, who told Langdell that having sexual intercourse with Locke’s dead body “increased the depravity of the murder”, according to the BBC.
He went on to say that it was his view that Langdell poses a “very great danger to women and young girls with whom you come into contact in the future”.
Speaking after today’s decision, Detective Fraser Wylie from Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit said: “Katie Lockie was a much-loved, professional young lady who had her whole life ahead of her.”
I want to be clear that Carl Langdell is a dangerous, evil, manipulative and controlling individual who knew exactly what he was doing that night.
He painted a picture of being a decent person, including claiming to be a lawyer which he wasn’t, and had refined his ways of dating to lure women into his trap.
“Langdell is clearly an extremely ruthless, calculated and violent man,” said Adrian Foster, the Chief Crown Prosecutor for the Thames and Chiltern Crown Prosecution Service.
We know that nothing will bring Katie back to her family and friends, but we hope that today’s sentence will bring them at least a small sense that justice has been done. Our thoughts are very much with them all at this time.
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