This is the moment a 19-year-old university student lets her ‘sexually obsessed' stepfather into her campus accommodation with his head hidden by a blanket before he allegedly strangled her.
uncertain
he → let → her
Nathan Owens, 34, is accused of murdering his stepdaughter Carla Georgescu after driving more than 100 miles through the night to her student halls.
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Owens → accuse → halls
Prosecutors claim his actions were driven by 'sexual jealousy' after learning the second-year clinical psychology student planned to meet a man she had been romantically involved with online.
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she → claim → man
Owens' 'escalating fascination' with Carla included having sex with a life-sized 'effigy' of his teenage stepdaughter which he had clothed in her nightdress, jurors at his murder trial were told.
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jurors → escalate → trial
Footage played at Preston Crown Court shows Carla – wearing a fluffy dressing gown and pyjamas – letting Owens into Ribble Hall, her block of student flats at the University of Lancashire campus in Preston, at around 4am on February 4, his head hidden by a patterned blanket.
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head → play → blanket
Owens had driven from the family home in Hartlepool, County Durham, without telling his sleeping wife Janina, Carla's mother.
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Owens → drive → wife
He gave Carla a false story about her mother having left her purse there when they joined her for an early birthday meal three days earlier, prosecutors say.
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prosecutors → give → meal
In the footage, Owens glances towards the camera before she takes him up to her room.
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she → glance → room
Carla Georgescu, 19, a second year clinical psychology student at the University of Lancashire, was allegedly strangled and murdered by her stepfather Nathan Owens
Carla Georgescu, in a fluffy dressing gown, caught on CCTV letting her stepfather Nathan Owens, 34, into her university accommodation in Preston at around 4am on February 4, 2026, with his face covered by a blanket
Owens captured leaving the building around an hour-and-a-half later, 'shielding' himself with an umbrella and wearing a face-mask while wearing Carla's trainers and carrying two bags.
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Owens → strangle → bags
Her body was found the following day after her mother Janina called the university
He was captured leaving the building around an hour-and-a-half later, 'shielding' himself with an umbrella and wearing a face-mask while wearing Carla's trainers and carrying two bags.
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He → find → bags
Owens then drove back home, allegedly stopping en route to dump items including bedding later found to contain traces of Carla’s DNA.
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Owens → drive → DNA
His wife told jurors on Wednesday he did not mention having been to see Carla in the night when she awoke later that morning.
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she → tell → night
She became worried when Carla did not respond to her messages and phone calls, and the following day – which would have been Carla's 20th birthday – she contacted university security.
They carried out a welfare check and discovered her body slumped against a wardrobe door with a belt around her neck, initially believing she had hanged herself.
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she → become → herself
It was only after police had told the couple of the tragic discovery that Owens spoke to Ms Georgescu about his late-night trip to Preston, the court has heard.
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court → tell → Preston
He claimed Carla had wanted him to take incontinence pants to her and help her tidy her room.
But the prosecution say this was an attempt to 'cover his tracks' and 'keep his wife onside'.
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this → claim → wife
Preston Crown Court was also shown footage of Owens allegedly walking towards the block of student flats with a patterned blanket over his head shortly before his stepdaughter was 'murdered'
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stepdaughter → show → head
Carla's body was found at her University of Lancashire accommodation, Ribble Hall in Preston, on February 5 after her mother raised the alarm
She had last seen her Romania-born daughter three days before her death during an early birthday celebration at a Korean restaurant in Preston.
Ms Georgescu had travelled from Hartlepool by train for the meal on February 1 as Carla was due to travel to Romania on her birthday to meet her online boyfriend for the first time.
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Carla → find → time
They were later joined by Owens, who came by car.
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who → join → car
But the prosecution allege he returned to Carla's flat in the early hours of February 4, without telling his wife.
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he → allege → wife
He allegedly then brutally attacked Carla before fleeing the scene, dumping evidence and attempting to cover his tracks.
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He → attack → tracks
Owens, whose DNA was found at the scene, was arrested the day after her body was found.
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body → find → scene
The prosecution allege that Owens had become 'sexually fixated' with Carla and her death was the culmination of weeks, months and perhaps years of a 'one-sided sexual obsession'.
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death → allege → obsession
He is said to have taken photos of Carla without her knowledge, filmed himself having sex with her dolls and toys, one of which was a life-sized 'effigy' that he had clothed in her nightdress, and manipulated an innocent image of her so it appeared sexual.
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it → say → her
Owens also allegedly made videos of him using sex toys and accessed further images of Carla 'deriving sexual satisfaction' from them.
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him → make → them
He denies charges of murder, intentional strangulation and grievous bodily harm with intent.
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He → deny → intent
The trial continues.
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trial → continue → ?
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