Mother-of-one Johanna Croxton was strangled to death

Jonathan Croxton, 25, of Hastings, Sussex, was found guilty of murder at Lewes Crown Court and was told he would serve at least 15 years and two months.

The body of his wife Johanna, 21, was found at their home last year, after she failed to show up for work.

Jurors heard Croxton thought she was having an affair. They had been married for 16 months and had a baby girl.

The jury rejected a plea of manslaughter on the grounds that Mrs Croxton provoked her husband by having an affair.

Judge Anthony Scott-Gall told him the evidence showed he had been "an aggressive and, on occasion, violent bully" towards his wife.

'Bloke who would kill'

The court heard that Mrs Croxton confided in her friends and family saying: "He is the kind of bloke who would kill me, kill the baby and kill himself."

Prosecution lawyers said he hit her, told her she was an unfit mother, and threatened to take their 14-month-old daughter from her.

On 1 December, 2005, a neighbour heard raised voices and the sound of someone being pushed or falling downstairs at their home in Plynlimmon Road.

I flipped, put my hands round her throat and the next thing I know, she is dead Jonathan Croxton

The next day, Mrs Croxton's colleagues at the Hastings Child Support Agency became concerned when she did not arrive for work.

Knowing she was unhappy, they called her and visited her house, after which a missing persons inquiry was launched.

Croxton was arrested at his mother's house in Eastbourne.

In a police interview, he said: "We were having a big row... I flipped, put my hands round her throat and the next thing I know, she is dead."

After the hearing, Det Ch Insp Adam Hibbert said it was clear that Mrs Croxton had become unhappy in her marriage, but did not know what to do next.

He said: "It is important for anyone in that position to know that there is help available for those who are suffering domestic violence.