Parole for man who killed girlfriend on holiday

A convicted murderer who killed his girlfriend while they were on holiday in Spain will be released on parole.

Christopher Chittock from Ipswich was found guilty of murdering Sarah Shields, 23, while in Gran Canaria in 2010 and was jailed for 24 years.

His trial heard how he dumped Shields' body in the sea before flying back to the home he shared with her in Ipswich.

A spokesperson for the UK's Parole Board said: "We can confirm that a panel of the Parole Board has directed the release of Christopher Chittock following an oral hearing."

The trial, which was held in 2013 at the Provincial Court in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, heard the attack began after Chittock discovered text messages exchanged between Shields and an ex-boyfriend.

On the night of the attack, Chittock repeatedly punched Shields in the bedroom of their holiday apartment in the resort of Mogan.

He then dragged her in the dark to a deserted beach, punched her to the ground, banged her head against a rock and strangled her.

Before burning her clothes, he dumped Shields' body in the sea, where it was found the following morning.

He then flew back to the UK.

In an attempt to cover up his crime, he kept his Shields' phone and sent texts to her family pretending to be her.

A European arrest warrant was issued and he was detained in September 2010 before being extradited to Spain.

Speaking in 2013, after an inquest in to Shields' death, her mother, Angela Shields, said her daughter was a "lovely girl" who "never saw wrong in anybody".

"We miss her very much," Angela said. "It's so hard. We go to the cemetery and say hello to her and give her a kiss."

Shields' niece Stacey Stephenson said the experience had been "a struggle".

"Justice has been done," she said. "We can start to grieve, finally."

A spokesperson for the Parole Board said: "A panel will carefully examine a huge range of evidence, including details of the original crime, and any evidence of behaviour change, as well as explore the harm done and impact the crime has had on the victims.

"Members read and digest hundreds of pages of evidence and reports in the lead up to an oral hearing.

''Parole reviews are undertaken thoroughly and with extreme care. Protecting the public is our number one priority."

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