A man who was caught on CCTV strangling his fiancee and then beating her body as she lay dying was today jailed for life.

David Kirsch, 42, throttled pub landlady Julie Butler before beating her on the floor with a bar stool. He was then seen to punch her in the face.

A jury of nine women and three men were shown the distressing footage on a large TV screen.

The pictures showed Kirsch attacking the 49 year old for 21 minutes as she lay dying on the ground.

The court heard he then dragged her disfigured body into the gent's toilet, where he left her for two days.

During that time he went about his life 'as normal'.

Kirsch, a barman, went out drinking at other pubs and even placed a bet on a horse at a bookmakers.

The jury heard Mrs Butler had accepted a proposal of marriage from Kirsch just three weeks before her death - because she was too frightened to turn him down.

Her body was not found until concerned brewery managers visited the pub because it had been closed for three days.

The court was told Kirsch, of Aldershot, Hants, called police shortly after the grim discovery and admitted killing the mother of one. He said he intended to take his own life.

The attack happened after closing time at The Imperial Standard pub in Aldershot on October 8 last year.

A post mortem revealed Mrs Butler suffered an horrific catalogue of injuries including a laceration to the back of her neck so deep her skull was exposed, wounds to her face and bruises all over her body.

Kirsch was convicted of murder at Winchester Crown Court having denied the offence. He was told he will serve a minimum of 19 years.