Strangle case man gets life

A 38-year-old man was today jailed for life for strangling a young mother and dumping her body in the bath at his Telford home.

The jury at Wolverhampton Crown Court took nearly four hours to convict Philip Jervois of murdering Charlie Smith, a 27-year-old mother-of-two, at his home in Lancaster Road, Dawley, nearly a year ago.

The guilty verdict followed a nine-day trial. There were loud cheers from the public gallery as it was announced.

Judge John Warner sentenced Jervois to life imprisonment with a minimum of 26 years, describing the killer as “callous”.

Jervois had denied murdering Miss Smith between February 9 and 12 last year.

During the trial, the court heard Jervois strangled Miss Smith with a ligature made from three cable ties after a drinking session.

He sexually assaulted her before dumping her body in his bath. Jervois then scalded parts of her semi-naked body with boiling water.

The trial heard she had suffered “dreadful” internal injuries at the point of death or just after.

After dumping the body in his bath, Jervois phoned friends to help him move the body into a wheelie bin.

One of them, Charles Ward, went to Jervois’s flat, but left after seeing the body and called police.

Miss Smith, of Old Wharf, Malinslee, had been visiting Jervois when she was attacked and killed.

Jervois later burned her blood-soaked clothes in an incinerator in his garden. The prosecution believe he also burned his own clothes.

Jervois had told the jury he thought Miss Smith had committed suicide and had contacted friends for advice.

He also claimed a third party had been responsible for her death.

Jervois told the court he rang Mr Ward because he was a paratrooper and he thought he would be used to “bodies lying around everywhere” and would not be “fazed” by it.

When nobody arrived to help, Jervois said he started clearing up the flat and moved a wheelie bin inside ready to put the Miss Smith’s body inside.

He had then planned to take the wheelie bin “well away” from the area so nobody knew she was found at his flat.

By Arthur Mills