Ipswich Man Jailed For Murder in Gran Canaria

27 February 2013, 12:10 | Updated: 27 February 2013, 12:20

38-year-old Christopher Chittock from Ipswich was found guilty of murdering his girlfriend Sarah Shields on the holiday island and has been sentenced to 24 years in prison.

38 year old Christopher Chittock was convicted of killing Sarah Shields by a jury of nine at the Provincial Court in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain.

Chittock punched her repeatedly in the bedroom of the holiday apartment where they were staying in the popular resort of Mogan and dragged her in the dark to a deserted beach, punched her to the ground, banged her head against a rock and strangled her. Before burning her clothes, he dumped her body in the sea, where it was found the following morning.

The engineer then flew back to the home he shared with Ms Shields in Ipswich, Suffolk. 

He kept his girlfriend's phone and sent texts to her family pretending to be her. 

A European Arrest Warrant was issued and he was detained in September 2010 before being extradited to Spain.