A trainee lawyer has pleaded guilty to murdering a “much loved and respected” young teacher.

Appearing by video link at St Albans Crown Court on Friday (March 18), Carl Langdell, 26, admitted killing Buckhurst Hill woman Katie Locke.

The body of Miss Locke, 23, was found in a room at the four star Theobalds Park Hotel in Waltham Cross on Christmas Eve last year.

She had been strangled.

Miss Locke reportedly graduated from the University of Southampton and taught history and politics at Cardinal Pole, a Roman Catholic secondary school in Hackney.

Her family were in court on Friday.

In a statement released by Hertfordshire police after her death, they said: “We are distraught, in shock and totally devastated.

“There was not a bad bone in Katie’s body.

“Katie worked hard and loved her job as a teacher.

“In what little spare time she had she enjoyed sports.

“We now feel like our future has been stolen from us.”

It has been reported that Langdell, from Cheshunt, was seeking psychiatric help after previously being convicted of making threats to kill in Bristol.

He will be sentenced on April 21 in St Albans following the preparation of a prosecution psychiatric report.