Clair Armstrong murder: Skydive instructor Ashley Kemp jailed

A man who strangled his girlfriend to death after she said their relationship was over has been jailed for life.

Mother-of-three Clair Armstrong, 50, was found fatally injured at her home on Elm Way, Messingham, North Lincolnshire, on 6 November 2022.

Skydiving instructor Ashley Kemp, 55, was found guilty of her murder following a trial earlier last month.

Sentencing Kemp to a minimum of 19 years in jail, Judge John Thackray KC told him: "This was domestic violence."

Judge Thackray said Ms Armstrong was a "wholly blameless victim".

"You decided that if you could not have her, nobody could," he told Kemp.

Ms Armstrong's death was "devastating, tragic and brutal", the judge said, noting Kemp had displayed "self-pity from beginning to end".

Kemp had pleaded guilty to manslaughter but denied murdering Ms Armstrong, which triggered a six-day trial at Grimsby Crown Court.

He was sentenced on Wednesday at Hull Crown Court.

Prior to being handed his sentence, Kemp showed no emotion as Ms Armstrong's brother-in-law Ian Farrell read aloud a victim statement to the court.

In it, Ms Armstrong's family described how her murder had "shattered" their lives and "left a huge hole that can never be filled".

The family condemned Kemp for not having had the "courage" to accept his guilt.

Consequently, Mr Farrell said, the family had been forced to listen to "utterly horrific accounts" of her final moments.

Ms Armstrong was attacked in the home where she had "planned a future" for her children, Mr Farrell said, adding it was "a place where she should have felt safe".

Jurors heard Kemp and Ms Armstrong, a beauty salon owner, had been arguing over a claim Kemp had sexually assaulted a teenage girl.

He told police he strangled Ms Armstrong after a "red mist" came over him when she confronted him over the allegations, ordering him to leave the house.

Kemp, who worked in Hibaldstow, headbutted Ms Armstrong with enough force to break her nose before he "squeezed her throat as hard as he could", the trial heard.

Ms Armstrong was last seen alive around 24 hours before Mr Kemp called 999 in the early hours of 6 November last year to confess killing her.

Prosecutor Richard Thyne KC told the court that while the attack may not have been pre-planned, Kemp had intended to kill or cause serious harm to Ms Armstrong.

Her family had previously thanked police for "the incredible support and guidance" afforded them.

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