An IT consultant has been jailed for life for murdering his school teacher wife in a brutal attack which set off a bizarre chain of events.

Stuart Andrews, 54, was arrested after the body of 52-year-old Caroline Andrews was found at their rented bungalow in The Street, Benenden, on February 4.

A post-mortem examination revealed she had been strangled the previous day.

Today Andrews admitted murder and was jailed for life at Maidstone Crown Court with a minimum of 15 years.

He also admitted stealing £267,096 from his 95-year-old father-in-law, who suffers from dementia.

The Oxford graduate's arrest followed a massive 24-hour manhunt which led to dozens of armed police boarding a train at Gillingham station.

The court heard in the hours after strangling his wife, depressed and debt-ridden Andrews checked into a hotel in London with a woman he was planning to set up an escort agency with.

After ordering a Martini he fell asleep. The next day hotel staff went to his room and found him covered in blood from numerous knife wounds where he had tried to kill himself.

Prosecutor Philip Bennetts QC said Andrews told paramedics: “I’ve done something really bad. I’ve killed my wife.”

He had left his wife’s body in their bedroom, where she could have been discovered by her 95-year-old dementia suffering father Richard Breeds.

He made plans so that the two of their four children living at home would not discover the grisly scene.

Mr Bennetts said Andrews had negotiated to buy the family bungalow and had obtained a mortgage offer in August last year of £366,380 against the purchase price of £630,000.

But on November 18 the landlord gave notice for them to leave by February 17 this year.

Andrews, who read classics at Oxford, then made an offer on a property in Hawkhurst, but it fell through.

He had begun to get into debt in 1995 and sold the family home in 1998. It led to tension with his wife.

In May last year he tried to borrow £20,000 to set up the escort business with a woman he had been meeting. He also asked a work colleague for £90,000 so that he could buy her a flat, but he could not do so.

Andrews, who was employed by Alix Partners, on January 20 this year emailed to say he was sick and never returned to work.

He continued to give the impression to his family he was going to work in London.

After returning home on February 3, a neighbour heard raised voices during the evening.

The court heard how Andrews and his wife had been having financial problems and had been arguing via text message as he travelled home from work on the evening in question.

He later admitted the argument continued the morning after, and that he had punched Mrs Andrews in the throat before strangling her to death.

The next morning he told their youngest daughter her mother was unwell and she was sleeping and not to be disturbed. Mrs Andrews normally left for work that day at about 7am.

He drove the daughter to Headcorn station and returned home, parking his car out of sight. He called his wife’s school to say she would not be in because she was unwell.

Andrews later drove his other daughter to the station. He left behind a note in his car which read: “Dear children, I’ve done an horrendous thing and I can’t expect you to understand. It started as an accident when we were fighting but it went too far.

“Your mother was a beautiful, kind and caring person who loved you all. I let her down and ruined her life by being stupid with money and losing the house.

“Neither of us ever recovered from that. I love you too but I can’t carry on living. All this is just my fault. Dad.”

He and his daughter travelled to London. His daughter went off to university.

Andrews sent a text to his wife’s best friend saying: “I am sorry and this is beyond belief. I have accidentally killed Caroline. In a second, I will have killed myself too.

“The body is in the bedroom. Please do what you can to comfort the children. You should not have to deal with this but you are her best friend.”

Andrews bought a bottle of Vodka and Champagne from Waitrose in Marylebone High Street.

After receiving the text, Mrs Andrews’ friend Heather Sheldon called the police.

Officers went to the bungalow. Mr Breed was in the house but entry was forced when he did not respond to knocking.

Dressed in her bed clothes, Mrs Andrews’ body was on the floor of the bedroom. She was pronounced dead at 5.40pm.

A post mortem examination gave the cause of death as compression of the neck.

“Dear children, I’ve done an horrendous thing and I can’t expect you to understand" - Stuart Andrews' note to his children

Andrews, meanwhile, had bought a knife set from Argos. He also bought a bottle of prosecco and condoms. He went to the Rathbone Hotel where he had earlier checked in with a woman.

The next day hotel staff discovered the bloody scene in which he had harmed himself.

He left a note to his sister-in-law saying: “Christine, you are going to hear some pretty awful stuff about me. I just want you to know I am not really a monster.

“We have been fighting so much and she was attacking me and goading me when the accident happened and she died. I just blacked out.”

When arrested, he replied: “No, I’m guilty. I’m not denying it. I want to be dead.”

He told a psychiatric nurse while in hospital that his wife had accused him of being a failure and hitting him.

He snapped and punched her. In an attempt to stop her screaming, he grabbed her by the throat.

He said he had never been able to deal with money and his wife never forgave him for losing their house.

Judge Jeremy Carey said Mrs Andrews had every reason to be frustrated, unhappy and disappointed and, to a degree disdainful, of her husband’s failure to secure for her and their family what she hoped for and expected.

“So it was before the crescendo in the early hours on the day, and in circumstances you will never forget and your family left to cope with...I take from your own account that you did indeed snap.

“You struck your wife, which you never should have done. Rather than reacting and coming to your senses, you compounded an already serious position by seizing her around her throat in what must have been a sustained attack on her.

“It is well known that asphyxia is not generally in a second or two but by forceful and persistent pressure of a deliberate kind you murdered her.

“And you left her to die in your bedroom, a place of all places where she was entitled to feel she was safe from harm, safe in the protection of her husband.”

Andrews is a former adviser to the Bank of England.

DI Lee Whitehead said: 'This is a tragic case and our thoughts remain with the victim's children, who have ultimately lost a mother and father as a result of Andrews' actions.

"There are never any winners in an investigation such as this and I can only hope this early guilty plea will prevent any further pain and anguish that may have resulted from a lengthy trial in court.

"Andrews has expressed some remorse and can reflect on the consequences of his actions during his long prison sentence."

The judge continued: “You then, in what on one view might be regarded as a cold and calculating way, dealt with that appalling situation efficiently and highly effectively.

“I will give you the benefit of the doubt in that regard by accepting your true motive was to protect the feelings of your two daughters.

“The effect of your grave crime is not just the loss of precious life. She was 52 and a much loved daughter and mother. She was highly respected and devoted to he children.

“No sentence of imprisonment, no minimum term can restore Caroline Andrews to her children.

“Her life and its worth are not measured in the length of a prison sentence.”

Judge Carey said Andrews’ conduct was compounded by his dishonesty in abusing his power of attorney by stealing from his father-in-law.

“No sentence of imprisonment, no minimum term can restore Caroline Andrews to her children" - Judge Jeremy Carey

“You are an intelligent man who has fallen from a high position, of good character and superior intellect. For many years you held down a good job and worked hard.”

But he added: “You failed miserably to summon any kind of assistance when you should have done. Your father-in-law was present in the house and could so easily have suffered adversely from what he might have seen.

“You left others to clean up your mess.”

Dressed in a dark suit with an open-necked white shirt, bespectacled Andrews showed no reaction to the sentence.

Tributes have been paid to Mrs Andrews who worked part-time at Hilden Oaks School and Nursery.