Page last updated at 10:26 GMT, Monday, 6 July 2009 11:26 UK
Kung-fu killer jailed for murder
A kung-fu expert who strangled his partner over her plans to leave him for another man has been jailed for life.
Alan Jermey, who was found guilty of murdering Mercedes executive Kirsty Wilson on Friday, was told he would serve a minimum of 16 years.
The Old Bailey trial had heard how he set fire to her body at their home in Woking, Surrey, in August last year.
The court also heard that Ms Wilson had an affair with Simon Goddard, her boss, at a dealership in Hampshire.
Mr Goddard had already left his wife and two children for Ms Wilson before her death.
You have done a wicked act, murdering the mother of your own young children
Judge Martyn Zeidman to Alan Jermey
Jurors were told how Jermey had not been prepared to lose his partner of nine years, their two daughters, or their four-bedroom house, after she told him their relationship was over.
The car salesman, who worked for a firm near Heathrow and had a black belt in kung fu, throttled her, leaving few external injuries, they heard.
He secretly ordered a 100,000-volt stun gun over the internet so he could knock her out before killing her, and after pouring petrol over her body, he set it alight.
He arranged her body to make it look as though she had fallen asleep watching television and, as the fire took hold, he clambered on to an extension roof with their two daughters as one of them cried: "I want mummy."
Kirsty Wilson
The court heard Kirsty Wilson was in love with Simon Goddard
Jermey claimed in court he had gone to bed early and was prevented from saving Ms Wilson from the fire by thick black smoke.
Jailing him, Judge Martyn Zeidman told Jermey: "You have done a wicked act, murdering the mother of your own young children."
The judge said he had "imposed a life sentence of weeping" on his partner's parents and caused a "devastating blow" to his children, who were just seven and three at the time of the murder.
The court heard that the youngest child still asks her grandmother: "Can I get mummy on the phone?"
"How do you explain to a child of that age that they will never see mummy again?," the judge asked Jermey.
"Kirsty was an utterly exceptional person. She was kind, vibrant, beautiful, honest, very sociable, and with a great sense of humour.
"She will be missed desperately by all who had the privilege of knowing her. You have done a terrible thing," he said.