Overview

• Inner London Crown Court heard CCTV showed Tape lunging into the driver’s side of a car and remaining there for about eight minutes during a fatal assault.
• Medical evidence stated the 25-year-old died from manual neck compression, with blunt-force injuries and hand cuts consistent with defensive wounds from a knife.
• After moving her to the passenger seat and buckling her in, he drove around for roughly two hours, bought cigarettes, and sent a message from her phone before confessing to his brother about six and a half hours later.
• Tape also admitted possessing a bladed article, and experts testified his ability to form rational judgment and exercise self-control was substantially impaired by persecutory delusions arising from schizophrenia.
• The Crown Prosecution Service dropped a murder charge, and family members delivered statements expressing anguish over the outcome and frustration that parts of their remarks were redacted.