A British man has been given 24 years in jail for killing his lover. It is believed that he flew into a rage after finding text messages on her phone from another man. He maintained his innocence, but the jury didn’t buy it. Read on..

According to SKY News:

A British man who beat and strangled his girlfriend to death while on holiday in the Canary Islands has been jailed for 24 years.

Christopher Chittock killed 23-year-old Sarah Shields on a beach on Gran Canaria on July 6, 2010, after finding text messages from an ex-boyfriend on her phone.

On the night of the attack, Chittock repeatedly punched his girlfriend in the bedroom of their holiday apartment in the resort of Mogan.

He then dragged her in the dark to a deserted beach, punched her to the ground, banged her head against a rock and strangled her.

Apparently there wasn’t enough evidence to prove his story wrong, but the jury’s tendency to apply logic seemed to be the overwhelming factor.

Chittock had denied murder and claimed Ms Shields left him for another British holidaymaker called Jason before she died.

The trial heard that the attack began after Chittock discovered the text exchange between Ms Shields and former boyfriend William Newham.

Although jurors found that this had not been proved, Mr Aleman said he was satisfied Chittock “acted out of spite” because of jealousy.

Quite interesting, hey? You can read the whole story here.

The similarities to the Oscar Pistorius murder trial can’t be ignored. Especially the SMS triggering off the rage, which is a popular motive being discussed in South Africa at the moment.