A Bromley man has been given a life sentence after being found guilty of murdering his fiancée by running her over with a Land Rover.

Christopher Caunter, aged 36, lived with Deborah Townsend in Cromwell Avenue, Bromley, before her murder in July 2005.

A trial at Ipswich Crown Court heard 18-stone Caunter became embroiled in a row with his 35-year-old fiancee in Lowestoft, Suffolk, before fatally running her over with the 4x4.

Parts of Ms Townsend's scalp and clumps of hair were found in a pool of blood by a passing motorist on Suffolk’s A146.

Ms Townsend's body was later discovered in the boot of the Land Rover near a remote fishing lake in Essex.

It emerged during police investigations that Caunter had spent £3,000 on a flight to Thailand shortly after his fiancée’s death.

Officers launched a murder hunt and, with help of Thai police, Caunter was eventually extradited to UK in April last year.

He denied killing his fiancée, but on Monday (November 24) a judge gave him a life sentence for Ms Townsend’s murder.

Karim Khalil, prosecuting, said Caunter's temper “may best be described as akin to a volcano exploding.”

Sentencing, Judge John Devaux said Caunter should serve a minimum of 21 years, adding “The evidence has shown that you have been violent in the past on a number of occasions and that you are a danger to others.”

After the hearing, Ms Townsend’s mother, Vivian Baptiste, said: “We hope that after all the efforts that have been made to convict Christopher Caunter, who is solely responsible for this vile and cowardly act of her murder, that he finds his years of incarceration long, hard and painful to endure.”

Caunter’s brother Robert Caunter, aged 39, of Barking, Essex, and friend Joseph Brown, aged 39, of Romford, Essex, helped him cover up his crime. The pair were found guilty of assisting an offender and will be sentenced on December 22.

A Suffolk police spokesman said: “Our sympathies go to Deborah’s family. Caunter has taken her life and then left her body with no dignity, dumping it in the boot of a car on a mid-summer’s day.

“The engagement ring she proudly wore was never found, nor was her handbag and other personal effects, leaving her family very little but memories of her.”