Fantasist killed woman in brutal revenge attack

A fantasist and thief has been found guilty of murdering a woman in a “brutal and fatal revenge attack” at an Airbnb after she discovered he had stolen from her and told lies.

University dropout, Deepak Sandhu, 24, who claimed to be a model and actor, bought knives in Asda and travelled to Earl’s Court, west London where he killed Xiaoqing Ke, 39, on 10 December, the Old Bailey was told.

Their relationship broke down after Ke demanded her stolen £500 back and told him she did not want to see him any more.

Prosecutor Caroline Carberry KC added that the failed AI student was a “fantasist” and an “obsessed, manipulative young man who could not accept her rejection of him”.

The prosecutor said: “Xiaoqing Ke was murdered that evening by Deepak Sandhu who had become an obsessed, manipulative young man who could not accept her rejection of him and carried out a brutal and fatal revenge attack on her before attempting to leave the country.”

Indian national Sandhu, whose student visa had been revoked, had denied being responsible for the killing, claiming she was alive when he left her flat.

A jury deliberated for two hours on Thursday to reject his version of events and find him guilty of murder and perverting the course of justice by attempting to flee the country.

The prosecution previously outlined to the jury 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.

The court heard he pestered Ke with calls and texts, eventually arranging to see her one evening in December 2025.

He had bought a set of knives from a supermarket in Southampton and was captured by a Ring doorbell arriving at her flat on Old Brompton Road dressed in a baseball cap and wearing face coverings, Carberry said.

By the time he left the flat 90 minutes later Ke was dead, jurors were told.

The alarm was raised the following morning when neighbours spotted bloodstains on her door and in a shared communal area of the flats.

Her body was found on her bedroom floor by two police officers.

Sandhu was seen with injuries to his arm following the killing and his blood was found at the scene.

Carberry said Sandhu then made an abortive attempt to leave the country and booked a one-way flight to Mumbai, changing the SIM card on his phone.

He was arrested on a coach heading for Birmingham airport.

Following Thursday’s unanimous guilty verdicts, Sandhu was placed into custody ahead of sentencing by Judge Philip Katz KC on Friday.