Judge Filmed Jailing ‘Extremely Devious’ Murderer for Life in Legal Milestone in UK

An undated police mugshot of Jemma Mitchell—convicted of murdering Mee Kuen Chong in London in June 2021. Metropolitan Police

An English court on Friday sentenced a murderer during a broadcast for the first time in a legal milestone.

Jemma Mitchell, 38, was also the first woman to be sentenced on television in England and Wales after rules were changed to allow cameras into courtrooms.

Judge Richard Marks, KC, told Mitchell she was an “extremely devious” person and jailed her life with a minimum term of 34 years for killing Mee Kuen Chong, 67, who was known to friends and family as Deborah.

Mitchell and Chong met through a church group in north west London but fell out over money four days before the murder.

An undated image of Mee Kuen Chong, who was murdered in London, England, in June 2021. Metropolitan Police

‘Overwhelming Evidence’

The trial at the Old Bailey in London heard Mitchell murdered Chong after she changed her mind about giving her £200,000 towards building works on the home Mitchell lived in with her mother, Hilary Collard, a former Foreign Office official.

Prosecutor Deanna Heer, KC, told the jury Chong and Mitchell were both “devout Christians” and Chong had offered £200,000 ($220,000) of her own money to complete the building work on condition that the house was used for “Christian worship.”

But she changed her mind four days before she went missing.

Mitchell had forged a will in which Chong left 95 percent of her estate, worth £700,000, to pay for repairs to the house in Brondesbury Park.

She struck Chong over the head, decapitated her, and dumped the headless body on a public footpath 200 miles away.

The jury heard how Charlotte Rollings and her family made the “gruesome discovery” as they took a walk near their holiday cottage in Salcombe, south Devon, on June 27, 2021.

Jemma Mitchell is seen pulling a blue suitcase, which contained the body of Mee Kuen Chong, down a street in Wembley, north west London, on June 11, 2021. Metropolitan Police

Judge Marks told Mitchell there was a “chilling aspect” to the crime and he told her: “You have shown absolutely no remorse and it appears you are in complete denial as to what you did, notwithstanding what in my judgment amounted to overwhelming evidence against you.”

He added: “The enormity of your crime is profoundly shocking, even more so given your apparent religious devotion and the fact Deborah Chong was a good friend to you and had shown you great kindness.”

After Mitchell was sentenced, her mother blew kisses to her as she was led away to the cells.

The victim’s sister, Amy Chong, her nephew Ryan and nieces Pinky and Yinky, watched the proceedings by video link from Malaysia.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, Amy Chong said: “Deborah’s death was a shock to us all. ... It saddens me she had to go through such a horrifying ordeal and tragic death.”

Sentences Broadcast

Mitchell’s case was the first sentencing for murder, but not the first televised sentencing in a British court.

In July, Judge Sarah Munro jailed Ben Oliver, 25, for life for manslaughter in the death of his grandfather David Oliver, 74.

Scotland introduced televised courts several years ago and has even allowed TV cameras to film an entire murder trial, which was broadcast by the BBC earlier this year.

PA Media contributed to this report.