THE grandmother of a woman who was savagely killed by her cannabis-addict boyfriend had to fight tooth and nail to get custody of her grandchild.
Linda Westcarr, 58, struggled through a series of legal hurdles after her daughter’s murderer, 29-year-old Gogoa Lois Tape, retained legal parental responsibility over the couple’s baby girl.
Tape strangled social media marketer Kennedi Westcarr-Sabaroche, 25, to death in a jealous rage outside his home in Hackney, east London.
Their girl, aged one at the time, was asleep inside the property during the brutal killing.
Tape, an undiagnosed schizophrenic, was regularly smoking weed despite being told by doctors to stop as it was causing episodes of psychosis.
During his trial, the court heard that Westcarr-Sabaroche had found a note written by Tape in which he wrote that he wanted to kill her and her mother.
Read more about this story
Westcarr-Sabaroche picked Tape up under the pretence of driving him to a job on April 5 last year.
CCTV shown to the court shows the car stopping before Tape walked round to the driver’s side, opened the door, and lunged at Kennedi.
He stayed in that position for eight minutes, with the prosecution saying that this is when Tape was strangling her.
Prosecutor Julia Faura Walker told the court: “After the killing, he moved her from the driver’s seat to the passenger seat and buckled the seatbelt.
“He drove away so that the neighbours would not see; he continued to drive around the local area with her slumped next to him.
“He parked the car and bought cigarettes from a shop and sent a message from the deceased’s phone to her friend’s phone pretending to be her.”
Despite having access to her phone, Tape did not call for medical help.
It was only six and a half hours later that he confessed to his brother that he had killed his partner, who then called the police.
Westcarr, a senior education welfare officer, needed Tape’s permission to carry out the child’s day-to-day care while he was in custody for murder.
Under law, he still held power over her education, living arrangements and medical treatment.
Westcarr rushed to court to secure an emergency child arrangements order, telling The Times “I acted in the best interests of my granddaughter.”
Haringey Council said it was notified by police four days after the killing and that the family had not been previously known to children’s services.
The authority treated the child’s placement with her grandmother as a “private family arrangement”, a position she and her barrister, Chris Barnes, challenged.
Westcarr fought the council for six months until she was finally able to secure the child’s nursery fees last October.
Tape later admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and was given an indefinite hospital order.
He opposed losing his parental rights, telling a judge: “The circumstances of what occurred are extremely unfortunate.
“I am still [the child’s] father and… I strongly believe I am being deliberately erased from her life.”
The judge rejected his plea, stripping him of parental responsibility and granting Westcarr special guardianship.
He said he doubted the child could ever understand why her father should retain decision-making powers.
Westcarr said: “It felt like a sigh of relief. We can start to rebuild our lives without interruption.”
She has called on ministers to urgently bring in Jade’s Law, which would automatically restrict the rights of a parent who kills the other.
“We were trying to make sense of the perpetrator’s actions but were forced to communicate with him. I want that to change,” she said.
The incoming law is named after Jade Ward, 27, who was killed by former partner Russell Marsh as their four sons slept inside their Flintshire home in 2021.
Marsh retained parental responsibility, allowing him to request school reports and medical details, despite serving a 25 year sentence.
Ward’s parents campaigned for the change in the law, and Jade’s Law was granted Royal Assent under the Conservatives in May 2024 as part of the Victims and Prisoners Act.
However, Labour has yet to set a start date, with families such as the Westcarrs continuing to face proceedings in the family courts.
The Ministry of Justice said it was committed to implementing the law “as swiftly and safely as possible”.
Haringey council said: “[We] do not recognise this account… At the time the local authority became involved the legal position based on the law was that this was a private family arrangement.
“This description of the arrangements was not challenged or criticised by the court. [We] provided the family with significant financial support [and] this continues with the Special Guardianship Support plan.”
It added: “We are deeply saddened by these tragic circumstances and our thoughts are with all those affected.
“The local authority takes the safeguarding of children extremely seriously.
“While we are clear the court did not find fault with how the child was supported and safeguarded, we always remain committed to learning and improving wherever possible.”
