‘If we had known his background we’d never have let her go’: Sister says law must change after British web boyfriend with past convictions lured Canadian teenager to UK and murdered her
- Hailey Wadsworth, is calling for a change in UK law to make it easier to check previous convictions
- Her sister Ashley was was strangled and stabbed more than 90 times in a vicious attack by her British boyfriend Jack Sepple
The sister of a Canadian teenager who was murdered by her British boyfriend – who had past convictions – is calling for a change in UK law.
Police found Sepple lying in a pool of blood in bed next to Ashley’s body.
Ashley’s sister, Hailey Wadsworth, is calling for a change in UK law to make it easier to check someone’s previous convictions.
Hailey is calling for a change in UK law following the murder of her sister. Pictured: Ashley Wadsworth with her sister Hailey
Jack Sepple (left) was abusive and controlling towards Ashley (right) after she moved over from Canada to be with him
Hailey says that her 19-year-old sister would still be alive if her family had known about Sepple’s previous convictions against women for harassment and assault.
Sepple was jailed for life with a minimum term of 23 years and six months at Chelmsford Crown Court in October last year.
Hailey told The Mirror: ‘If we had known his background we’d never have let her go. Even though she was 19, I’d have dragged her away from that airport.’
Ashley was 12 when she met Sepple, then 15, online. She had ‘always dreamed’ of travelling to London and fell for him.
Jack Sepple, 23, admitted killing Ashley Wadsworth, 19, at his Essex home just two weeks before Valentine’s Day
Hailey said her sister called her in the weeks before her murder where she witnessed Sepple’s behaviour on video call.
She said that she could see ‘glass everywhere’ in a call with Ashley. Hailey said: ‘Sepple had hit her in the head with a glass’.
On the day of her death, Hailey said she was on FaceTime with her sister as Sepple was ‘punching her in the head’.
Ashley told Hailey that she was scared and so they booked her a flight for two days later.
Ashley Wadsworth, from Vernon, British Columbia in Canada was strangled and stabbed more than 90 times in a vicious attack
Ashley Wadsworth, pictured with boyfriend Sepple, was found dead at his home in Chelmsford in early February
But the next morning Hailey got a chilling call from Essex police asking her for a description of her sister.
She added: ‘I knew then Ashley was gone. I just dropped to the ground and screamed.’
Due to get married in September without her sister, Hailey said her cousin will carry Ashley’s photo down the aisle.
Clare’s Law, also known as the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme, came into force in England and Wales in 2014, It means the public can ask police if a partner has previous convictions.
Versions of the scheme also later emerged in Northern Ireland and Scotland.
It was named Clare’s Law after Clare Wood, who was murdered by her ex-boyfriend George Appleton in 2009. Similar to Sepple, he had a history of violence against women.
Hailey said she wants our government to make court convictions available through searching for an offender’s name on the web, which is what the Canadian authorities offer.