Rugby player strangled girlfriend

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A "jealous" rugby player murdered his 18-year-old girlfriend following a Boxing Day party.

Caerphilly RFC player Jordan Rees, 24, strangled Rebecca Spry after she spoke to an ex-boyfriend at a rugby club's fancy dress party.

Rees, from Hawthorn, Pontypridd, had admitted manslaughter but denied murder in his trial at Cardiff Crown Court.

But the jury found that he intended to kill Miss Spry. Sentence was adjourned for two weeks.

The court was told that Rees may have seen Miss Spry talking to an ex-boyfriend during a night our on 26 December last year.

Prosecutor Nick Cooke said: "It appears they may have been some contact between Rebecca Spry and a former boyfriend - just chatting and a peck on the cheek.

"It may be that Rees saw this.

"There was also some banter over a mobile phone which may have aroused his jealousy.

"A man had been making a joke that Rebecca had been feeling his leg while she was talking to Rees on the phone."

When he applied pressure to her neck he intended to kill her and it was murder Prosecutor Nick Cooke

Rees and travel agent Miss Spry went back to her mother's house in Glyncoch, Pontypridd, after leaving the party.

In the early hours of the morning Rees rang Rebecca's sister Amie and said: "Can you come to your house please? I don't know what's wrong with your sister. She's blue."

The court heard Rees only dialled 999 after Amie Spry arrived at the house.

Mr Cooke said: "The emergency operator was struck by the calmness of the caller - he expressed himself unusually.

"When he was told it would take a while he said: 'Don't worry, I know you're busy'."

Rees told ambulance staff that he had put his girlfriend to bed and then gone downstairs to watch television.

He told them part way through the night he heard a loud thud and when he went to bed later he found her with her face blue.

'Never be forgiven'

But the court heard forensic evidence showed Miss Spry had been strangled.

Mr Cooke said: "The prosecution case is this was murder and nothing less.

"When he applied pressure to her neck he intended to kill her and it was murder."

Rees, of Hawthorn, Pontypridd, admitted manslaughter but denied murder, claiming he did not intend to kill his girlfriend when he put his hands around her neck.

He told the jury: "I didn't mean for this to happen. I know what I've done is wrong and I'll never be forgiven."

But the guilty verdict was greeted by cheers from a public gallery filled with relatives of Miss Spry.

Mr Justice Nigel Davis adjourned sentencing for two weeks to allow the preparation of a pre-sentence report.

The judge warned Rees he would receive a mandatory life sentence and the report would help determine his minimum tariff.