Kevin Kennedy death: Peter Healy jailed for life

A Nottingham man has been sentenced to life in prison after he killed and dismembered a love rival.

The headless and armless body of 50-year-old Kevin Kennedy was found in a shallow grave in Sneinton, Nottingham, on 8 August.

Peter Healy, 51, of Lord Nelson Street, Sneinton was convicted of his murder at Nottingham Crown Court on Friday and will serve a minimum of 21 years.

Healy was also sentenced to five years for perverting the course of justice.

He was given the concurrent sentence for concealing or disposing of Mr Kennedy's body parts.

Mr Kennedy's girlfriend, Tara Swift, 40, was cleared of murder but was also found guilty of perverting the course of justice.

Swift, of West Street, Leicester who was a former partner of Healy, was jailed for 30 months.

Mr Kennedy was killed less than two weeks after Healey was released from jail on 4 July.

In a letter to Mr Kennedy, Healy had written that he would "take him out".

Swift, who claimed to have been a "helpless bystander" to the fight, was seen with Healy on CCTV in the days after the attack.

Parts of Mr Kennedy's dismembered body were discovered in an area of land off Rossington Road in Sneinton.

Some pieces have never been recovered.

Det Ch Insp Rob Griffin from Nottinghamshire Police said: "Mr Kennedy suffered at the hands of Healy whose barbaric acts are inconceivable.

"Because of the lies Healy and Swift told and despite our extensive searches and investigations, Mr Kennedy's family still don't know definitively, what happened to him."

In a statement, Mr Kennedy's family said: "Although it cannot bring Kevin back, we are happy with both the verdicts and the sentences passed today on Peter Healy and Tara Swift.

"We are all aware that Kevin was no angel but he did not deserve to die like this.

"To compound this, Peter Healy and Tara Swift haven't shown the slightest bit of remorse for their actions."