Love cheat teacher jailed for life over murder

(PA)

The father of a teaching assistant brutally murdered by her cheating partner condemned the "evil deceit" of the killer as he was jailed for a minimum of 22 years today.

Andrew Lindo, 29, showed no emotion as he was jailed for life at Bradford Crown Court for the murder of Marie Stewart.

As Lindo began his sentence, the victim's father, Robert Stewart, branded her killer a coward who had "lied, misled, abused, cheated and stolen from us on a monstrous scale".

Lindo, who led a double life dating a string of women, strangled, battered and stabbed 30-year-old Miss Stewart to death before storing her body in a flight bag in the garage of their home, in Holmfirth, West Yorkshire, on December 18 last year.

Hours later Lindo put their two children in his car and went to collect his latest lover, Angela Rylance, then spent the night with her in the bedroom where the murder began.

Lindo, a music teacher, tried to portray himself to the jury as a downtrodden father who was devoted to his children, when in reality he was having affairs with a number of women, including an allegation he was involved with a 15-year-old girl.

The victim's body was not found for seven weeks, during which time Lindo conned her family she was still alive and had deserted their two children for another man.

Sentencing him, Mr Justice Andrew Smith, said Lindo had shown an "extraordinary and chilling lack of remorse".

He said the parole board would have to take into account his "extraordinary cunning and facility for deceit" before he was considered for release.

He condemned Lindo for blackening the victim's name and for sending her family "cruel" text messages to try to convince them she was alive.

"There could hardly be a more heartless device for concealing your crime and Marie's body and if anything could add to the tragedy and loss of a daughter, sister and friend, that was calculated to do so," the judge told him.

The judge added: "I cannot tell why you killed Marie Stewart - still less why you killed her so brutally - whether there was a motive and, if so, what it was.

"I do not accept that you were provoked or suffering prolonged stress. But that evening you faced a crisis in the double life that you were leading.

"Within minutes of the killing you were cool and calculating enough to send Angela Rylance a text message assuring her that you would collect her to bring her home."

The judge said Lindo's claim that Miss Stewart was mistreating their daughter was "despicable fiction".

Mr Stewart struggled to control his emotions as he paid tribute to his daughter while describing Lindo's "evil deceit".

He said Lindo had "delivered an acting masterclass" as he tried to portray his daughter as a feckless mother who had abandoned her children.

"Andrew Lindo has blighted the lives of his two children forever and caused irreparable pain to us all," he told reporters outside court.

"It is inconceivable that this man could tell so many lies and cause untold damage to so many people.

"It saddens me enormously that one day very soon his children will have to know exactly what he did to their mother and that we are left to pick up the consequences of his actions.

"Marie will live on in our hearts as a fabulous daughter, sister and loving mum."

Lindo admitted killing his partner, who cared for children with special needs in school, but denied murder.

He claimed he lost control following a row with Miss Stewart, during which he accused her of mistreating their daughter.

A jury took less than an hour to reject his claim and find him guilty of murder yesterday.

Speaking after the case, Detective Superintendent Dick Nuttall of West Yorkshire Police said the roots of the crime lay in Lindo's "selfishness".

"Once Andrew Lindo was arrested, he has sought to minimise or avoid his responsibility for his actions.

"Whether that be in the cruel use of text messages and Facebook to convince people that Marie was alive, through to his lies and crocodile tears in police interviews, and down to the ultimate low which was in trying to blacken Marie Stewart's character before and during this trial."

PA