Builder jailed for murder of ex-Shropshire border publican

A builder who claimed he unintentionally throttled the former licensee of a Shropshire border pub during a sex game has been jailed for life for her murder.

A jury at Oxford Crown Court took just 20 minutes yesterday to convict Sean Freaney of the murder of his girlfriend Lisa Consterdine, formerly the licensee at The Crown Hotel in Audlem, near Market Drayton.

The 51-year-old strangled mother-of-two Miss Consterdine as she lay in bed.

The court heard Freaney showed "more interest in the Man Utd score than the death of his lover".

He will serve a minimum of 15 years, minus the year he has already been in custody, before he is eligible for parole.

In the early hours of March 1 last year, after a "simmering dispute" for more than two days with Miss Consterdine, Freaney lost his temper and strangled the 48-year-old in their bedroom in Purslane Drive, Bicester.

While Miss Consterdine's daughters and grand-daughter slept in the house, Freaney dialled 999 and told the operator: "I've actually killed someone, so I want someone to come round and pick me up. If you don't hurry up I'm going to start killing everyone."

He added: "I've murdered someone . . . strangled her."

As officers arrested him he casually asked what the score was in the previous day's League Cup Final and joked with police that they should provide cushions in the back of their vans.

Despite the apparent confessions, Freaney answered no comment in all seven of his police interviews and denied the murder charge when he appeared at court.

His defence, as filed by his lawyers last summer, was that he was sleepwalking during the whole episode.

However, last month, just weeks before his trial began, Freaney changed his story and said he had strangled Miss Consterdine when a sado-masochistic sex game went wrong.

Giving evidence on Monday he told jurors his U-turn was due to his memory returning.

David Hislop, for Freaney, said: "It would seem from the evidence now, in light of the verdict, a sudden loss of control within what was otherwise a loving domestic relationship."

By Tom Johannsen