Carla Georgescu, a 19-year-old second-year clinical psychology student at the University of Lancashire, was strangled to death in her campus flat on February 5 by her stepfather Nathan Owens, who is 34. Owens allegedly drove from Hartlepool to Preston after developing a dangerous sexual obsession with Carla following his marriage to her mother Janina. Prosecutors claim that Owens had been accumulating and manipulating images of Carla for months leading up to the murder and fabricated a story about collecting her mother's purse to cover his tracks.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-06,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
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Story summary
Carla Georgescu, a 19-year-old second-year clinical psychology student at the University of Lancashire, was found strangled to death on her 20th birthday, February 5, in Ribble Hall, a student accommodation block on campus in Preston. Her stepfather, Nathan Owens, aged 34, allegedly drove overnight from their home in Hartlepool and murdered Carla after becoming sexually obsessed with her following his marriage to Carla's mother, Janina, when Carla was 12 years old. The court heard that Owens may have been driven by sexual jealousy upon learning that Carla had an online romantic relationship with a man from Romania whom she planned to meet the next day.
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A 19-year-old university student was murdered in her flat on campus by her stepfather after he developed a 'dangerous sexual obsession' with her, a court heard today.
asserted
court → murder → her
Carla Georgescu's body was found on February 5, which would have been her 20th birthday, at Ribble Hall, a student accommodation block on the University of Lancashire campus in Preston.
asserted
which → find → Preston
The second year clinical psychology student, originally from Romania, was allegedly strangled and murdered by her stepfather Nathan Owens, 34.
He is said to have driven through the night from the family home, possibly motivated by 'sexual jealousy' after discovering she was about to meet up with a man with whom she had struck up a romantic online relationship.
Preston Crown Court heard how Owens became 'sexually fixated' with Carla after marrying her mother Janina.
The pair had moved to the UK when Carla was 12 after Janina had separated from her daughter's father.
The prosecution allege that Owens drove from Hartlepool in the early hours of February 4 and attacked Carla in her student flat.
uncertain
Owens → strangle → flat
Her body was discovered by concerned university staff the following day in what jurors were told was a 'disturbing scene'.
asserted
jurors → discover → staff
Carla Georgescu, 19, a second year clinical psychology student at the University of Lancashire, was allegedly strangled and murdered by her stepfather Nathan Owens, 34, after he became 'dangerous sexually obsessed' with her
Carla was found slumped against a wardrobe door in a near-seated position, with injuries to her face and a leather belt 'drawn tightly' around her neck.
Nicholas Lumley KC, prosecuting, said: 'Her death was the culmination, the end point, of weeks, months and perhaps years of a one-sided sexual obsession.
uncertain
death → strangle → obsession
And it was the beginning of a complex murder investigation, which led to his door in Hartlepool.
asserted
which → lead → Hartlepool
'For it was he who was sexually fixated on Carla and it was he, Nathan Owens, who had killed Carla.
asserted
who → kill → Carla
'
Owens is said to have concocted a story about visiting Carla's flat to collect her mother's purse, which she had supposedly left during a previous visit a few days earlier.
asserted
she → say → visit
But Owens did not tell his wife about the journey, the jury heard, and arrived alone before entering at around 4am and leaving 90 minutes later.
asserted
jury → tell → am
The prosecution allege that in the months and weeks leading up to Carla's murder he had amassed material on her, which included 'manipulating' and 'sexualising' images of her.
asserted
which → allege → her
He allegedly took photos of Carla without her knowledge, focusing on her bottom, part of an 'escalating pattern' in his 'sexual fascination' with her.
uncertain
He → take → her
He filmed himself having sex with her dolls and toys, one of which was a life-sized 'effigy' that he'd clothed in her nightdress, and he manipulated an innocent image of her so it appeared sexual, he added.
asserted
he → film → her
Owens also made and watched videos of him using sex toys and accessed further images of Carla, 'deriving sexual satisfaction' from them, jurors were told.
asserted
jurors → make → them
Mr Lumley said that Owens developed a 'wholly improper and dangerously entrenched sexual obsession' with Carla which drove him to visit her that day.
asserted
which → say → her
He said Owens had learned that Carla had struck up a romantic online relationship with a young man from Romania, whom she had yet to meet, and was due to travel with a friend to meet him in person the next day.
asserted
she → say → person
Mr Lumley suggested that 'sexual jealousy' and the fact Owens 'didn't want her to be romantically involved with someone else' may have motivated him.
uncertain
her → suggest → him
The jury heard that although Carla had recently expressed to a counsellor that she'd had suicidal thoughts some years ago, she had 'absolutely no intention' of harming herself.
asserted
she → hear → herself
Friends and medical staff also did not have concerns for her, while her mother found her behaviour 'normal' in the days before she died.
asserted
she → have → days
Owens denies charges of murder, intentional strangulation and grievous bodily harm with intent.
asserted
Owens → deny → intent
The trial continues.
asserted
trial → continue → ?
The Aporia
