Man convicted of Fiji wife murder

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A Fijian man has been sentenced to life in prison for stabbing his British wife to death during an argument.

Raymond Singh, 30, had denied killing his wife Wendy, 39, at their home in Fiji on 11 May, 2008.

Mrs Singh, originally from Surrey, had lived with her husband in Ipswich and Great Yarmouth before the couple moved to the Pacific island in 2006.

Singh was told he would serve at least 18 years by the High Court in the Fijian capital Suva.

Mrs Singh's sister Christine Singer, from the Isle of Wight, said after the verdict: "I just felt numb when I heard it. I was obviously very pleased, but I know that nothing will ever bring her back.

It's a horrific life changing experience - one we will never be able to forget Christine Singer

"All we can do now is hope and pray the maximum sentence is handed down."

In a statement to the court, she said: "Wendy's death made me realise what a devastating effect murder has - not just on the victim but on the whole family and friends.

"It's a horrific life changing experience - one we will never be able to forget."

Mrs Singer paid tribute to the Lucie Blackman Trust's Missing Abroad programme which helped fly her sister's son, George, back to the UK where he now lives.

She said: "Without them we would never have been able to get to Fiji, to bring George home and have Wendy's body flown home to the UK.

"They also worked non-stop all hours to help us, getting evidence put through to the court in Fiji and helping arrange everything over here."

The programme was set up to assist the families of people missing or murdered abroad and was inspired by the case of Lucie Blackman, who was murdered in Japan in 2000.