Briton Jailed For Killing Fiancee In Paris Hotel

Briton Ian Griffin has been jailed for 20 years for murdering his fiancee in a Paris hotel room.

Griffin, 45, remained impassive as a judge in the French capital sentenced him for the brutal killing of Kinga Legg, 36, at the five-star Bristol in May 2009.

The couple had been on a glamorous trip to the south of France to get married in Monaco, but Griffin was seeing another woman, 34-year-old Tracy Baker, at the same time.

Ms Baker, who had a child with Griffin after he was controversially released on bail last year, was also in the Paris Assizes when the jury verdict was read out on Friday night by Judge Didier Safar.

She was overcome with emotion, as she saw Griffin, who was on crutches, led to the cells.

A few hours earlier, Griffin had told the court that he wanted to apologise to Ms Legg’s parents, saying: "To think I could do that to the girl I love, that's killing me. I have been through every regret, every emotion. I would give my life for her's tomorrow."

But prosecutor Philippe Courroye said he failed to believe any of the versions Griffin offered for the murder, saying the case was a classic one of "violence against women".

The prosecutor also dismissed suggestions that Griffin was a successful businessman, describing him as "a kind of gigolo" who lived off his girlfriends and wealthy parents.

Pointing to Griffin sitting a few feet away, sitting with his crutches beside him and claiming to be seriously ill, Mr Courroye said: "He is trying to fool you. He lies to everyone, and, through his lies, he kills for a second time."

Ms Legg's corpse was found in the bath of the couple's £1000-a-night room, after Griffin, who claims it was all "an accident", fled to England in his Porsche 911 sports car.

Griffin, originally from Warrington, Cheshire, said he went into a "black hole" of memory loss caused by alcohol and anti-depressants.

But Mr Courroye said: "There were more than 100 bruises, 17 on the skull, 33 on the chest. They ranged from the face to the feet. If there were so many injuries, it is because he wanted to kill her.

"The autopsy revealed the power of the blows. It was a martyred body. She was beaten to death. This is a subject that has a name - violence against women."

Griffin has been living freely on bail for the past year-and-a-half with Ms Baker, herself an entrepreneur who appeared on the Dragon’s Den TV show this year, and the couple have just had a baby together.

After the verdict was read out, Ms Legg's brother, Marek Wolf, said: "I need to say it was the correct verdict."

Referring to the legal process which started when Griffin was extradited to France in 2011, Mr Wolf, added: "I'm glad after three years the trial is finished but nobody can give my sister back to me or my parents."