23-year-old man admits killing Canadian teenager he met on dating app

Wednesday 7 September 2022 12:30 BST

A 23-year-old man from Essex has admitted to murdering his teenage Canadian girlfriend.

Jack Sepple killed Ashley Wadsworth, 19, of Vernon, British Columbia, at a Chelmsford home in February after meeting her on a dating app.

Officers were called to an address in Tennyson Road shortly after 4pm on February 1 after reports of unrest.

Paramedics attempted to rescue Ms Wadsworth, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.

An inquest hearing heard she died of “stab wounds to the chest”.

At a brief hearing at Chelmsford Crown Court, Sepple’s lawyer said a psychiatrist had advised the defendant was fit to plead.

Christopher Paxton QC, for Sepple, said “the issue of fitness is now resolved” and asked that the defendant be asked to enter a plea.

The court clerk read out the single charge of murder and Sepple, standing in the secure dock in a long white sleeved top and with tattoos on his face and hand, replied: “I am guilty. “

Judge Christopher Morgan told Sepple: “By your guilty plea to murder, there is only one sentence that can be given and that is a life sentence.”

He took the accused into custody until a sentencing date was found.

Ms Wadsworth moved to Chelmsford in November 2021, she wrote on Facebook.

Earlier this year she posted photos online of her “incredible trip to London”, where she had been sightseeing.