The mother of Kennedi Westcarr-Sabaroche, a woman killed by her ex-boyfriend, has expressed outrage at prosecutors for not pursuing murder charges against him. Gogoa Tape, 28, strangled the 25-year-old mother in a brutal attack last April in Hackney, east London. He then drove around with her body in his car for two hours.

Tape, who had a history of cannabis addiction and psychotic episodes, attacked Westcarr-Sabaroche after asking her for a lift. The court heard that he was armed with a knife and subjected her to an eight-minute assault while she sat in the driver's seat of her Vauxhall SUV. He was sentenced to a hospital order at Inner London Crown Court after pleading guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, a decision that has angered Westcarr-Sabaroche's family.

Linda Westcarr, Kennedi's mother, condemned the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for their handling of the case. She stated, "My daughter was loving, brave, and full of promise. She tried to leave a coercive relationship and paid with her life. The system has failed her, and failed us. No sentence can change the fact that we don’t have justice for Kennedi."

She further lamented the lack of justice, saying, "We can never say she was murdered; we will have to explain to her young daughter the complexities of his conviction which in simple terms says he wasn’t totally responsible."

Campaigners have also voiced their concerns over the use of diminished responsibility in such cases. Diana Parkes, co-founder of The Joanna Simpson Foundation, remarked, "How many more times will manslaughter with diminished responsibility be used by killers to get away with murder? The family of the victim is left feeling that true justice has been denied."

Emma Webber, whose son’s killer also pleaded diminished responsibility, added, "I stand with Kennedi’s family not just in grief, but in outrage. We cannot allow another young woman’s life to be devalued by a system that too readily excuses violence."

During the court proceedings, it was revealed that Tape killed Westcarr-Sabaroche by "manual compression to the neck" and inflicted blunt-force injuries consistent with punching her. After the attack, he drove around with her body until confessing to his brother hours later.

The case has sparked a broader discussion about the treatment of victims' families within the criminal justice system and the need for reform regarding how mental health issues are considered in violent crime cases.