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Man convicted of teacher murder Man convicted of teacher murder
(30 minutes later)
A man has been convicted of the murder of special needs teacher Jane Longhurst in Sussex. A man who had a "perverted interest" in strangled women has been found guilty of murdering a teacher in Sussex.
Graham Coutts, 39, of Waterloo Street, Hove, was found guilty at a retrial after a previous murder conviction in 2004 was quashed on appeal. Graham Coutts, 39, of Waterloo Street, Hove, strangled Jane Longhurst with a pair of tights before keeping her body in a storage unit for a sexual thrill.
Ms Longhurst, 31, originally from Reading in Berkshire, was strangled with a pair of tights in March 2003. The body of Ms Longhurst, 31, from Reading, Berkshire, was later burned at a beauty spot by Coutts.
Coutts kept her body in a storage unit before taking it to a beauty spot in West Sussex and setting fire to it. He was found guilty at a retrial after a previous murder conviction in 2004 was quashed on appeal.
Jurors at the Old Bailey found Coutts guilty, by an 11 to one majority, after 13 hours of deliberations. This case has been one of the most testing ones that, in my experience, a jury has had to try. Judge Richard Hone Jurors at the Old Bailey found Coutts guilty, by an 11 to one majority, after 13 hours of deliberations.
Ms Longhurst's relatives threw their arms in the air and there were cheers from the public gallery, where her mother Liz, 76, was sitting, when the verdict was read out.Ms Longhurst's relatives threw their arms in the air and there were cheers from the public gallery, where her mother Liz, 76, was sitting, when the verdict was read out.
Coutts had killed her to satisfy a "long-standing and perverted interest" in the strangling to death of women, the Old Bailey had been told. Coutts had killed her in March 2003 to satisfy a "long-standing and perverted interest" in the strangling to death of women, the Old Bailey had been told.
The jury rejected his claims that Ms Longhurst's death was the result of a tragic accident.The jury rejected his claims that Ms Longhurst's death was the result of a tragic accident.
Murderous thoughts
Philip Katz QC, prosecuting, said Coutts repeatedly visited her body at the storage unit where it was kept afterwards for a "sexual thrill".
He also said Coutts had been looking at "horrific" pornographic images the day before Ms Longhurst was killed.
A former partner told the court he had confessed to her to having murderous thoughts about women.
"He actually said 'I have the feeling that I am going to murder a woman. I could strangle and murder a woman,'" she said.
Judge Richard Hone said: "This case has been one of the most testing ones that, in my experience, a jury has had to try."
He said he was adjourning the sentence until Thursday so he could put emotion to one side.