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A woman who livestreamed torturing and killing a cat before going on to murder a complete stranger has been sentenced to life in prison.
Scarlet Blake attacked Jorge Martin Carreno as he walked home from a night out in Oxford in July 2021.
His body was found in the River Cherwell, and he’d suffered a blow to the back of the head before drowning – but it was another two years before the events of that night could be ‘properly understood’, jurors were told.
Blake, 25, killed Mr Martin Carreno, 30, because she ‘had a fixation with violence and with knowing what it would feel like to kill someone’, the trial at Oxford crown court heard.
Blake denied murder but she was found guilty last Friday.
She returned to the same court on Monday where she was told she’ll spend a minimum of 24 years behind bars.
Sentencing Blake, Mr Justice Chamberlain said she had ‘revelled’ in her crime, returning to take photographs of the scene twice, and added there was a ‘clear sexual motivation for the killing’.
(Picture: PA/Thames Valley Police/SWNS)
Alison Morgan KC, prosecuting, said Mr Carreno, a Spanish citizen, had become ‘separated from friends and perhaps lost and vulnerable’.
She said he ‘had the great misfortune of being approached by this defendant in the early hours on July 25, 2021’ while she was ‘out on the streets of Oxford that night looking for a victim’.
Ms Morgan added: ‘She targeted him and took him to Parsons Pleasure, where she killed him, leaving his body to be discovered by others over 24 hours later.’
The court heard his body was found in the water the following day and his cause of death was given as ‘immersion with alcohol intoxication’.
Ms Morgan said compression of the neck could cause the type of injuries he suffered.
She noted that as his body had been in the water for 36 hours, the external injuries would have been impacted by this.
CCTV captured Blake following Mr Martin Carreno (Picture: Thames Valley Police/SWNS)
‘This is not a case where strangulation caused Mr Carreno’s death,’ she added. ‘He didn’t die on the riverbank because the defendant strangled him to death.
‘He was alive to a degree when he went into the water. That sort of compression though can result in loss of consciousness so that is something which could have well happened before Mr Carreno then went into the water.’
Months before the murder, Blake livestreamed herself killing and dissecting a cat. She used food and a crate to capture the poor animal and take it to her home, where she killed it.
In the video, in which the New Order song True Faith plays in the background, Blake tells the cat: ‘Here we go my little friend. Oh boy, you smell like s**t. I can’t wait to put you through the blender.’
Blake recorded herself holding a cat head after killing it (Picture: Thames Valley Police/PA Wire)
Blake had watched a Netflix documentary called Don’t F*** with Cats in which a man kills kittens before filming the murder of a human – while the same New Order song played in the background.
Ms Morgan said: ‘The defendant’s actions towards the cat show planning, in particular the purchasing of equipment necessary to do what she wanted to do to this cat, and demonstrated a fixation with what it would feel like to cause harm to others.
‘They reveal her grotesque pleasure in causing harm to a cat.
‘This is not simply about killing a defenceless animal. Its relevance to this trial is the defendant’s overall demeanour.
‘The footage shows her to be someone who had a disturbing interest in what it would be like to harm a living creature. What it would feel like to cause suffering before taking a life away.’
Blake has now been found guilty of murder (Picture: Vagner Vidal/Hyde News & Pictures Ltd)
Detectives built up a picture of Blake’s background, with Ms Morgan describing her as someone who ‘derived sexual gratification from the thought of violence and the thought of death’.
The jury was shown video clips of Blake and her partner consensually strangling each other with ligatures, including a dressing gown cord.
Judge Mr Justice Chamberlain said: ‘You decided to kill someone because you believed [former partner] Ashlynn Bell would find it sexually exciting, as in fact she did.
‘As you later said to another partner, you killed “because my lover said it’d be hot”.
‘I am sure you did derive pleasure from killing Jorge, as you had from killing the cat.’
Jorge Martin Carreno, one of a set of triplet brothers, was described by his family as a talented guitarist and photographer (Picture: Thames Valley Police/SWNS)
Speaking after the guilty verdict was handed down, Mr Martin Carreno’s family said: ‘We as a family, wish to pay tribute to Jorge, our beloved son and brother, an extraordinary being full of passion and kindness.
‘Jorge was not only an exemplary child but also an exceptional being. He was distinguished by his incredible affection, friendliness, and his ability to give himself fully to others.
‘Jorge’s innate curiosity and creativity drove him to explore, learn, and experiment tirelessly.’
They added: ‘His life was imbued with a love for music, photography, reading, and sports. He played the guitar skillfully and radiated kindness and humour among all those lucky enough to have known him.
‘Being a triplet brother, Jorge shared not only blood ties with his brothers but was also their best friend. His friends adored him.
‘He had an affable heart and sense of humour that filled every space with laughter and complicity. ‘
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