A man convicted of murdering his 17-year-old former girlfriend from Kent after she told him she was pregnant has been jailed for life today.

Violent Ben Blakeley, 22, strangled Jayden Parkinson - who used to live in Folkestone - when she revealed she was expecting his child.

Now he must serve a minimum term of 20 years before being considered for parole.

He was found guilty at Oxford Crown Court yesterday of murdering the teenager before hiding her body in his uncle's grave in December.

Blakeley, from Reading, had admitted manslaughter but was convicted of murder by jurors.

Described as "violent and controlling", he regularly beat his ex-girlfriend and had even threatened to post naked pictures of Miss Parkinson online when their relationship ended.

The young woman was spotted on camera leaving a hostel in Oxford where she had been staying on December 3 last year.

Jurors were told other CCTV footage showed her at Didcot station with Blakeley.

Two weeks later, her body was found in disturbed grave in a church cemetery after he had been told about her pregnancy.

Hundreds of mourners gathered for Miss Parkinson's funeral at St Martin's Church, in Cheriton, in January.

The tragic teenager, previously of Tennyson Place in Folkestone, was laid to rest in the church cemetery surrounded by flowers.

Jurors were today discharged after failing to reach a verdict over Blakeley's 17-year-old brother Jake, charged with helping to bury the body.

They could not decide on a charge of preventing the lawful burial of Miss Parkinson, but admitted perverting the course of justice.

Speaking after the sentencing, Jayden's family said: "Finally justice has been done for our Jayden.

"From the day that Jayden's life was so cruelly taken, the kindness shown to us by the people of Didcot has been immeasurable. For this, we will always be thankful from the bottom of our hearts.

"Over the months we have also found strength in the messages of support from strangers around the country and indeed worldwide.

"We will never be able to find an ounce of forgiveness for the evil that murdered Jayden and then concealed her body in such a cold, calculated and callous manner.

"For us as a family, today is not the final chapter in this tragedy."

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