A MAN who left his ex-fiancee's body in the boot of her car on a street in Blackpool has been jailed for life after being convicted of her murder.

Car salesman, William McInnes, 46, of Toll Cross Street, Parkhead, Glasgow, strangled Helen McKenzie, 31, after she admitted she had slept with his brother.

The judge at Preston Crown Court told McInnes he would have to serve at least 14 years before being considered for parole.

McInnes had earlier told the court that he had felt betrayed by Ms Mckenzie's confession and had lost control when he put his hands around the girl's neck.

He told the court he had moved the body from a Blackpool hotel room and left it outside in the car in fear and panic.

The prosecution told the court that Ms McKenzie, from Haghill, Glasgow, had split up with the defendant after a relationship lasting several years.

In the months prior to her disappearance on May 2 last year, she formed a relationship with his brother, Stephen.

McInnes admitted to the court that the relationship had been fiery, but said that he hoped a visit to Blackpool would help them to start afresh. But, shortly after arriving at the Andorra Hotel on Lonsdale Road, where they were staying, McInnes told the court that Ms McKenzie told him she was thinking of returning to Scotland. She sent a text message but refused to tell him who it was too. Eventually, she told McInnes she was having a relationship with his brother and that she had slept with him. The next thing he remembered was that his hands were round her throat and then she was gone. He told the court: "I didn't realise until it was too late. I couldn't go back to my home. I had been getting attacked in the street and sleeping rough."

The court heard Ms McKenzie's Rover car remained undisturbed for several weeks on Woodfield Road, Blackpool, before being reported abandoned.

The jury took less than three hours to reach a unanimous guilty verdict. Mr Justice Mackay told McInnes: "You lost your temper with Helen McKenzie that night in the hotel room and strangled her to death.

"It must have taken you quite a long time to do that. I am sure you knew what you were doing.

"You did this, I believe, because you lost your temper when you realised she was getting in touch with your brother whom you detested, as you put it."

The judge said the way he hid the body in the car boot to let it decompose for a month showed profound disrespect for her, and added to the grief suffered by her family.