Ashley Wadsworth: Canadian teen who came to UK for boyfriend died of stab wounds to chest

An inquest into her death was opened in Chelmsford on Thursday.

A man has been charged with the murder of Canadian Ashley Wadsworth, 19, after she was found dead in Essex (Ashley Wadsworth/Facebook)

A Canadian teenager who met her boyfriend through an online dating app and travelled to the UK late last year died of stab wounds to the chest, an inquest has heard.

Ashley Wadsworth, 19, was pronounced dead at an address in Tennyson Road in Chelmsford, Essex, on 1 February.

Her boyfriend, Jack Sepple, has been charged with her murder.

The 23-year-old, of Tennyson Road, Chelmsford, was not asked to enter pleas at an earlier hearing at Chelmsford Crown Court and was remanded in custody until a further hearing at the court on 7 March.

An inquest into Ms Wadsworth's death was opened in Chelmsford on Thursday.

The family of Canadian teenager Ashley Wadsworth have vowed to get ‘justice’ as her English boyfriend Jack Sepple, 23, appeared in court charged with her murder (Ashley Wadsworth/Facebook)

The hearing was told that the teenager was found unresponsive and paramedics confirmed life extinct at 4.38pm.

A post-mortem examination recorded her provisional medical cause of death as “stab wounds to the chest”, the coroner's officer said.

Essex's senior coroner, Lincoln Brookes, suspended the inquest proceedings pending the outcome of crown court proceedings.

Ms Wadsworth, originally from Vernon, British Colombia, moved to Chelmsford in November 2021, she wrote on Facebook.

Earlier this year, she posted photos online of her “amazing trip to London”, where she had been sightseeing.

Ms Wadsworth converted to Mormonism when she turned 18 and was described as a “woman of great faith.”

She moved to England on 12 November to “escape small-town life,” and went to live with Sepple, who she met through an online dating app according to family and friends.

Jeff Wadsworth, 66, described his granddaughter as a “sweetheart” and said the aspiring law student loved winter sports.

A man has been charged with the murder of Canadian Ashley Wadsworth, 19, who was found dead in Essex (Daniel Seaman/SWNS)

He said: “She was a sweetheart. She was very smart, she had a great attitude.

“She liked skiing; everything really. She was a great kid.”

He said the family were “devastated” by her death adding that he encouraged her to go and thought the UK was safe.

“I never thought something like this would happen in England – I thought it was the safest place in the world. And it is a safe place – this is such a not normal thing,” he said.

Ms Wadsworth’s family currently have a fundraising campaign to pay for her to be repatriated.

“We’re going to be getting her home. My girl took care of me so much. We did everything together. I don’t think I ever went a day without talking to her,” her Hailey sister told the Daily Mail.

“This has been terrible. I’m so distraught. I’ve never felt so distraught. I’m lost. It feels like a piece of me is missing.”

Sepple is due to enter a plea at Chelmsford Crown Court on 7 March, ahead of a provisional trial date set for 5 September.