A man who described himself a “monster” sexually assaulted the dead body of a young teacher after strangling her to death, a court has heard.

Carl Langdell, 26, killed 23-year-old Katie Locke, from Buckhurst Hill, after meeting her in London and going with her to the Theobolds Park Hotel in Waltham Cross on Christmas Eve 2015.

Langdell, who pleaded guilty to murder in March, took photos of her dead body before dumping it near a skip in the hotel’s grounds.

A sentencing hearing at St Albans Crown Court today (June 2) heard the pair met on December 23 after talking on the Plenty of Fish dating website.

Langdell – who was doing a law conversion course – described himself on the site as a lawyer with his own firm.

Ann Evans, speaking for the prosecution said: “This is a lie.”

At the time of the killing, he was serving a suspended sentence for making threats to kill, and he had previously been detained under the Mental Health Act.

Ms Evans said: “People online can say whatever they like about themselves, whether true or false.

“Without a network of friends and acquaintances, these facts must be taken at face value.

“The tragedy of this case is it is what Katie Locke did, like thousands of other young people.

“Having agreed to a date with Carl Langdell, she was accepting what he said about himself.”

Ms Locke, a history teacher in Hackney, was described as a “beautiful, vibrant 23-year-old” by Ms Evans.

Langdell and Ms Locke were drinking in Shoreditch before they took a taxi to the Waltham Cross Hotel, where they checked in at 3.30am.

A receptionist said Langdell seemed “very intoxicated”.

Benjamin Aina QC, mitigating, said Langdell claimed they had intimate contact in the room.

He said he asked Ms Locke if she enjoyed BDSM, before putting his arm around her neck and strangling her in the room at the four star hotel.

After killing her, Langdell photographed and sexually assaulted her body.

Langdell wrapped her body in the room’s bedsheets before dumping her outside.

There were abrasions and bruises around her body, and the prosecution said pathological evidence proved this happened before her death.

At about midday on December 24, Langdell admitted the killing to a woman he had been dating.

He returned to his parents’ home in Cheshunt, and took the family dog for a walk.

While Langdell was out, Katie’s father William Locke turned up at his house.

Mr Locke and some of Katie’s friends had become concerned about her and had managed to trace Langdell online.

Langdell’s mother phoned her son and he said “I am a monster.

“I put her in the ground.”

Langdell was arrested by police in the Lea Valley Park, Cheshunt.

Katie’s parents, William and Jennifer Locke, were in court and gave statements.

Mrs Locke said: “The day Katie Locke was murdered, Jennifer Locke died.”

She added: “The house is full of her things but you cannot imagine how empty it is.”

Mr Locke said: “The day she was born, it was like a new star had come to the sky.

“The day she was murdered, that star was extinguished.”

She was “loving, caring and thoughtful to everyone around her,” he said.

Langdell will be sentenced at 10am tomorrow morning (June 3) at St Albans Crown Court.

Both the prosecution and defence agreed a minimum starting point of 30 years for sentencing.