A man who brutally murdered his vulnerable partner and left her body on the toilet floor with a black plastic bag covering her face has been sentenced to life in prison.

Mathew Pickering, 49, who beat his partner, Georgina Dowey, 46, before strangling her to death at his South Wales home in May last year, was sentenced at Swansea Crown Court on Monday.

In the hours that followed the murder, Pickering set about covering up the crime, including sending texts to cover his tracks and purchasing bleach to clean the home.

Judge Paul Thomas KC sentenced Pickering to life imprisonment, following a guilty verdict last week.

A former hospital operating theatre worker, Pickering had previously admitted manslaughter but was found guilty of murder following a two-week trial.

Pickering, of Beaconsfield Street in Cadoxton, Neath, must serve a minimum of 17 and a half years in jail.

The judge detailed the events of the crime committed by Pickering, calling it a “terrifying way to die”.

He said Ms Dowey had suffered injuries, including a broken nose, before Pickering strangled her and left her body in the downstairs toilet, with a black bin bag covering her head.

Ms Dowey, who had a long history of alcohol abuse, moved in with Pickering in March, having previously lived in a women’s refuge in Barry.

Judge Thomas said it was his view that Pickering had killed Ms Dowey in a “jealous rage” having discovered messages on her phone from another man.

The pair had known each other since school, and the judge said Ms Dowey was “besotted” with Pickering and had previously described him as the “love of her life”.

All you have demonstrated throughout this process is cold, callous, self-interest

He said: “What’s been both striking and chilling about this case was that in the first 36 hours after you killed her you just went about calmly covering your tracks with not a hint of anything untoward, not even when you went to your parents the following day.

“There was not the merest flicker of anything resembling emotion or sympathy or regret demonstrated by you.

“All you have demonstrated throughout this process is cold, callous, self-interest.”

Speaking after the sentencing, Detective Inspector David Butt said: “This sentence represents justice being served for Georgina’s murder – at the hands of her own partner.

“The actions Mathew Pickering took in his attempt to get away with murder were partially caught on CCTV.

“Georgina was last seen alive on Friday, May 5. The murder took place either later that evening or during the early hours of the following morning.

“He spent approximately 40 hours covering his tracks while Georgina’s body lay on the floor of his downstairs toilet.

“On Saturday, May 6, he sent the following text to Georgina’s phone: ‘Did you make it to Merthyr ok? x’. He sent this text in full knowledge that her body was at his home.

“At 16:31 that afternoon, he went to the corner shop on his street to buy bleach. He would later claim that he purchased the bleach as ‘his cat was playing in the blood on the living room floor’, so he had to wipe it up.

“He also got rid of key evidence by placing items in bins in the local area, including items that were found in a dog waste bin.

“Georgina had two mobile phones – neither of which have been found – and it is believed that Mathew Pickering disposed of them.

“He made disclosures to family members about what he had done the following day.

“My thoughts remain with Georgina’s family who are understandably devastated by what has happened.

“I would like to thank the local community and witnesses for the support they have provided to this investigation.”