A Bath man who strangled his fiancee in front of their baby daughter has been jailed for seven years and four months.
Paul Keene, 32, was found not guilty of the murder of University of Bath PhD student Carmen Miron Buchacra, known as Gaby, during a trial at Bristol Crown Court at the end of last year.
However, he admitted manslaughter and was back in court today to be sentenced.
Mr Justice Eder said the starting point for sentencing had been 11 years imprisonment, but this had been reduced because Keene had admitted manslaughter at the earliest opportunity.
During the trial last year Keene, who worked for a financial services firm in Bath, said he had no memory of the moment he had killed Gaby in front of their 11-week-old daughter Ellie Mae last June at the Bennett Street flat they shared.
However the jury listened to an eight-minute long recording of the killing, which had been left on a friend's phone when Gaby, 28, was calling for help.
Keene said he and Gaby, who was originally from Mexico, had been having relationship problems at the time of her death and he had lost his temper after months of emotional abuse.
Mr Justice Eder said he had weighed up both the mitigating and aggravating factors of the case when coming to his decision on the sentence.
"Consistent with the jury's verdict I accept that what caused you to lose your self-control was the cumulative effect of the emotional abuse from Gaby over a period of time and in particular the threat to take away the daughter that you loved and telling you also that you would no longer be part of their lives," he said.
"However it is in my judgement important to bear in mind that this is not a case that you were being attacked or threatened physically.
"On the contrary it was you who forced your way back into the flat and, as was recorded in the harrowing voicemail, attacked and killed her."
Keene was told that he will serve at least half of the seven years and four months sentence, but that the time he has already spent in custody since his arrest last summer will be deducted.
After the hearing Gaby's family released a poignant statement outlining the loss they had been feeling since her death and their focus on her young daughter.
It said: "Gaby was a beautiful person, inside and out. She spread love, peace and laughter amongst those who were lucky to have met her.
"Her departure has left an indescribable ache in our hearts; an ache that only her baby girl has been able to alleviate over the past few months.
"Gaby's life was full of dreams, hopes and professional and personal accomplishments, where becoming a mother was the biggest of them all; her life was abruptly and unjustly taken.
"Her death has caused amongst all of our family great sorrow and pain; she was an extraordinary daughter, a wonderful sister, a thoughtful friend, but most of all, she was an outstanding mother.
"Our family has had to deal with the fact that nothing will bring us back our beloved Gaby. It is up to us now, however, to keep her always close to our hearts and always in our minds."
It continued: "It is true that the law in Mexico is quite different than the law here. However there is no sentence that will compensate what has been taken away from us.
"The actions of one person have affected the lives of the ones who loved and cared for Gaby unconditionally. Nobody has the right to take someone's life, especially when there is an innocent baby in the line who has now been left without her mother who welcomed her into the world with so much love and so much expectation.
"Gaby's intentions were always to better herself professionally and personally, to have a family and to provide for her daughter."
It finished: "There is no right or wrong in the decision taken today, we must respect what the justice system has ordered because at the end of the day each one of us will have to live with the consequences of our own actions.
"All that we have left is to remember her with love and tenderness, but most of all to provide her biggest treasure Ellie Mae with the love and care that Gaby would have wanted for her."
Speaking outside court Detective Inspector James Riccio, who led the case, expressed frustration with the outcome of last year's trial, but said he hoped the prison sentence would be some comfort to Gaby's family.
He said: "Both her family and ourselves were surprised by the jury's verdict. However, we respect that decision has been made.
"Keene has to live with the fact he subjected Gaby to a violent and savage ordeal which lasted beyond five minutes. He was not provoked by any violence, he hit and strangled her with at least two ligatures, before attempting to cover his tracks.
"Our thoughts are with Gaby's family, who are aware of the facts of this case and can continue with their grieving in the knowledge that Keene is serving a custodial sentence."
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