An Essex man who murdered his teenage Canadian girlfriend, who had met him online and travelled to the UK, has been jailed for life.

Jack Sepple, 23, stabbed 19-year-old Ashley Wadsworth at the flat they shared in Chelmsford, on February 1.

The judge, the Honourable Mr Justice Murray, said it was a “brutal and cowardly attack” and that Sepple “gratuitously inflicted some 90 wounds on her body”.

He said the pair met online when Ms Wadsworth was aged 12 and Sepple was around 15 and they had a long-distance relationship, but that Sepple had relationships with other women during this time.

The judge said Ms Wadsworth travelled to the UK on a six-month tourist visa while on a gap year shortly before Christmas 2021.

The court heard they bought a kitten together, called Winston, and a neighbour said they initially appeared happy together.

The judge said when the killing happened, Ms Wadsworth was soon to return to Canada and Sepple faced “imminent loss of control over her”.

The defendant, of Tennyson Road, Chelmsford, admitted at an earlier hearing at Chelmsford Crown Court to her murder.

The court clerk read the single charge of murder and Sepple replied: “I’m guilty.”

He showed no reaction as he was handed a life prison sentence at the same court on Monday.

Jack Sepple, 23, has been jailed at Chelmsford Crown Court for life with a minimum term of 23 years and six months.

The judge said that a week before her death, Ms Wadsworth had “indicated to her mother that things were not going well and she wanted to return to Canada”.

He told the defendant, of Tennyson Road in Chelmsford: “You are a dangerous individual.”

Ashley's mother Christy Gendron said in court: “This is a nightmare that thanks to you, Jack, we will never wake up from.”

“Ashley’s passion and love for Jack would ultimately cost her her life,” she said.

“She tried to better him and even introduce him to religion.”

She added: “Justice today can prevent him from harming another woman or putting another family through this.”

Ms Wadsworth’s father Ken Wadsworth also said: “Jack, you need to know and accept the brutality of what you’ve done and the neverending pain you’ve caused my family.”