Jealous husband jailed for murdering his wife after Shirley Valentine fling

Ronald Johnson, 53, attacked Susan, 49, with a claw hammer and a knife as she slept at the family home in Thrumpton, near Retford, Nottinghamshire, in August last year.

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The prison officer, who admitted the killing but denied murder, lashed out after discovering his wife of 32 years had fallen for Egyptian driver Saad Elembaby, 15 years her junior.

A jury at Nottingham Crown Court convicted him of murder and he was ordered to serve a minimum of 12 years in prison by Judge Michael Stokes QC.

Passing sentence Judge Stokes said: "This is a tragic case ... you are not a bad man but you did a very bad thing."

Mrs Johnson, a doctor's receptionist, met Mr Elembaby during a two-week break in the resort of Sharm el-Sheikh with her husband, shortly before her death.

The court heard during the week long trial that she struck up a relationship with him after the couple hired him as a driver.

On their return home she exchanged hundreds of text messages and emails with him and even returned to Egypt to see her toy-boy lover behind her husband's back.

Johnson discovered the affair was continuing when he opened an invoice for a return flight addressed to Mrs Johnson, the court heard.

He lashed out at her after brooding on the affair for several days. The final straw, the court was told, was Mrs Johnson telling him she planned to move to Cyprus with Mr Elembaby - the country the defendant had planned to retire to with his wife.

After bludgeoning her to death in her bed Johnson attempted suicide by downing a mixture of pills and wine, hanging himself with a dog lead and piercing his neck with an electric drill.

He had removed her name from his pension scheme days before, after she demanded half of it to help her start a new life, it was said.

The jury of eight women and four men convicted Johnson of murder following just two hours of deliberation.

Jailing Johnson Judge Stokes said he accepted Johnson acted out of distress because he was "highly dependent" on his wife.

"When you saw the prospect of your 32-year marriage coming to an end you simply could not bear it," the judge said.

"You could not look to the future and imagine how you were possibly going manage without Susan, who has been your real support for 30-odd years.

"There was a degree of self pity, but the very last thing you should have contemplated was ending your own distress by ending Susan's life.

"You killed the woman you loved and in whom you invested all your future. She is gone and you are going to have a very isolated existence in the future."

The couple's two daughters, Natalie and Laura, have vowed to have nothing more to do with their father, Judge Stokes said.

"You will probably never see your grandchildren again. You brought it all on yourself and this is a real punishment for a man like you," he added.

Mrs Johnson's family paid tribute to her after the trial.

Standing with the couple's daughter Natalie, 22, John Peatman, her younger brother, said: "Susan was a kind, loving and ever generous woman. We couldn't have asked for a better mother, sister or nanny.

"We will have to live with the pain of this loss year after year, knowing she will not be there, alongside us all, to enjoy the Christmas and birthday celebrations and to share in our day-to-day lives.

"So much has been taken from our family that at times it is hard to comprehend what has happened. Perhaps now we can begin to grieve and come to terms with this tragedy."

Superintendent Bob Ross, who led the investigation, added: "This was a tragic waste of life that has torn a family apart. In a case like this there are no winners, only losers."