Former Southampton student took ‘fatal revenge’, Old Bailey told

An “obsessed” former university student murdered his sex worker ex-girlfriend after she realised he had stolen money from her, a jury has heard.

The Old Bailey was told how 24-year-old Deepak Sandhu killed 39-year-old Xiaoqing Ke in a “ferocious” knife attack at her Air BnB flat in the Earls Court area of London.

Caroline Carberry KC said Sandhu, of Newlands Road, Southampton, and Ms Ke, who was from China, had got to know one another in early 2025 when she was working at a brothel.

Sandhu has pleaded not guilty to murder and perverting the course of justice.

The prosecutor outlined how the pair had “something of a relationship” and remained in contact when Ke moved from Southampton to London.

The court heard how the relationship broke down after Ke realised the former Southampton Solent student had been stealing from her.

He admitted taking £500 from her handbag and made “increasingly desperate attempts to repair the damage his dishonesty had caused to the relationship”, Carberry said.

Sandhu, an Indian national, watched proceedings from the dock with the assistance of a Punjabi translator.