Indian migrant who pretended to be a model and actor and murdered woman at Airbnb when he had no right to be in UK is jailed for 28 years

An Indian migrant who murdered a woman at an Airbnb after she rejected him has been jailed. 

Deepak Sandhu had come to the UK on a student visa the UK in September 2024 which was revoked six months later after he dropped out of a university in Southampton.

Despite losing his sponsorship, Sandhu remained in Britain and he carried out the crime nine months after his visa was revoked.

The Old Bailey heard that the 24-year-old, who claimed to be a model and an actor, bought knives before he travelled to Earl's Court in west London and stabbed sex worker Xiaoqing Ke to death.

Today, Sandhu has been handed a life sentence after he was found guilty of murdering Ms Ke.   

Ms Ke, 39, was found face down on the bedroom floor of the bedsit on December 10 last year having suffered catastrophic injuries including a fatal deep stab wound to the neck.

The couple had met in March 2025 while Ms Ke was working in a brothel in Southampton and they soon struck up a secret relationship chatting via a translation app.

At the time, Punjabi-speaking Sandhu was a customer of Mandarin-speaking Ms Ke, the court heard.

They remained in contact after she moved to London until Ms Ke discovered he had stolen £500 from her handbag and spun a web of lies and deceit.

Prosecutor Caroline Carberry KC described Sandhu as a 'fantasist' who became an 'obsessed, manipulative young man' who could not accept Ms Ke's rejection.

Sandhu had claimed that Ms Ke was alive when he left her flat and that he was not responsible for her death. 

He admitted to jurors he was a 'pathological liar', but insisted: 'Killing is not something I am capable of. I did no such thing.' 

Despite this, he was stopped on his way to Birmingham Airport with the same blood-stained jacket he was wearing in CCTV from the crime. 

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

The Old Bailey heard that Sandhu spun an elaborate web of 'white lies'.

He told Ms Ke his sister was living in Southampton when she was in India and also claimed to be a model and actor who travelled on trips to the US for auditions. 

He even lied about attending his graduation ceremony at Southampton Solent University despite having been removed from his course months earlier for poor attendance.  

He did eventually admit to taking money from Ms Ke, but the defendant claimed he was robbed of £3,500 at gunpoint in the US and had a job at a bank paying £6,000 a month, none of which was true.

Ms Carberry told jurors that by the time of her murder, Ms Ke was well aware of his 'true character'.

She called him out as a 'liar' and demanded he pay her back, telling him: 'Don't come see me. I'm clear, I'm not a fool.'

Sandhu reacted by telling her former brothel boss that she 'will regret what she has done'.

In messages on WhatsApp, Sandhu vented his anger and asked an associate 'Do you think I have to take my revenge on her?'

Meanwhile, he pleaded with Ms Ke to give him another chance, claiming he had the money he had stolen from her and that he could get her British citizenship through a contact.

Having 'pestered' Ms Ke and promised to return her money, the defendant set off from Southampton on December 9 last year armed with a knife.

Doorbell camera footage from Ms Ke's Airbnb bedsit captured him arriving with his face covered and wearing a baseball cap and leaving after about 90 minutes.

After the killing, Sandhu phoned his sister in India and booked a flight from Birmingham to Mumbai.

He was arrested on December 12 last year as he travelled on a National Express coach from Southampton to Birmingham Airport.

Sandhu, of Newlands Avenue in Southampton, admitted that he had lied to Ms Ke about being an actor and taking £500, saying he struggled to survive on construction work and handouts from family.

By the time he set off to visit Ms Ke in London he was feeling 'desperate' and worried she would ask for the money back, but denied he was out for 'revenge'.

On arrival, he said she told him to wait in a laundry room while she was with a 'customer'. He heard arguing and later saw blood in the flat but did not see the killer.

He told jurors that when he saw Ms Ke, she told him to go, adding: 'I am not a dangerous man. I am not capable of killing.'

Detective Chief Inspector Wayne Jolley, who led the investigation, said: 'Xiaoqing's family have been through an unimaginably painful time, and our thoughts remain with them.

'Our team uncovered vital evidence which showed Sandhu had become fixated on Xiaoqing and had subjected her to a tirade of controlling and abusive messages before ultimately deciding to end her life.

'Xiaoqing should never have had to endure what happened to her either in the months before her death or in the final moments of her life.

'Tackling violence against women and girls remains one of our key priorities, and we will do everything to identify those who carry out these offences and bring them to justice.' 

Shikha Varma, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: 'Xiaoqing Ke saw through Deepak Sandhu's many lies and, when she rejected him and ended their relationship, he reacted by taking her life in a calculated and brutal attack.

'The CPS remains committed to ensuring perpetrators like Sandhu, who commit such horrific violence against women and girls, are robustly prosecuted and face the full force of the law.

'Despite his repeated denials and efforts to evade justice, prosecutors were able to unravel his lies and present extensive evidence to the court of his anger towards Ms Ke and his presence at the scene, and the jury found him guilty of murder.

'Our thoughts remain with Ms Ke's family and friends at this incredibly difficult time.

'We hope his conviction and sentence bring them some measure of justice.'