Another Life Stolen, Another Systemic Failure
We are devastated and outraged by today’s sentencing in the case of Kennedi Westcarr-Sabaroche, who was brutally murdered by her abusive partner, Gogoa Tape, in April 2024.
A victim-survivor of coercive control and abuse, Kennedi had made the difficult decision to leave Tape just weeks before her murder. In a final act of violence, Tape strangled her in her own car after asking her to give him a lift. Today, instead of being convicted of murder, he received only a hospital order on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
This outcome is a profound betrayal of Kennedi, her family, and all victim-survivors of abuse. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) accepted Tape’s plea despite his long-standing pattern of abusive behaviour, escalating drug use, and no significant history of mental illness. Once again, the system has chosen to minimise violence against women and girls (VAWG), failing to treat it with the seriousness it demands and disregarding its devastating impact on countless lives.
Both the sentence itself and the way Kennedi’s family were repeatedly silenced throughout the process expose the gaping holes in a criminal justice system that continues to fail women – not only in life, but also in death.
These failures are even more stark for Black, minoritised, and migrant women and girls, who face compounded barriers such as institutional racism and No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF). Statistical evidence of femicide in the capital underscores this disparity: in 2023, 62% of recorded victims were Black, up from an already alarming 43% in 2022. It is clear that these women are systematically denied safety and support, and even in death, their experiences are rendered invisible and erased.
We cannot allow this injustice to continue. For a government that has pledged to halve VAWG within a decade, Kennedi’s case must be a wake-up call – a stark reminder that wholesale system reform is urgently needed, tackling root causes and centring the voices of those most affected.
Southall Black Sisters (SBS) stands with Kennedi’s family and other campaigners in demanding an urgent review of the sentence in this case, as well as reform of the diminished responsibility defence – particularly in cases where there is a clear history of domestic abuse and coercive control. The system must draw on the expertise of specialist, community-based ‘by and for’ Black, minoritised, and migrant women’s services, to truly understand and respond to victim-survivors’ lived experiences.
We also call for a public inquiry into femicide in the UK, with particular attention to its disproportionate impact on Black, minoritised, and migrant women.
As Dr Hannana Siddiqui, Head of Policy, Campaigns, and Research at Southall Black Sisters, states:
“We are deeply saddened by the death of Kennedi Westcarr-Sabaroche and shocked that her partner, Gogoa Tape’s plea of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility was accepted by the CPS. We are extremely concerned that this is a gross miscarriage of justice as Kennedi was killed in a context of an abusive relationship. A reduced charge makes a mockery of the system which claims to protect women, prevent death, and dispense justice. We call for a public inquiry into the high rates of femicide, which are disproportionate for Black, minoritised, and migrant women. The inquiry should include examining ‘hidden homicides’, which are often missed or dismissed by the police, the CPS and the courts.”
Kennedi’s life mattered. Her death demands justice. Her family deserves answers. And our communities demand change.
Photo credit: BBC