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Jailed: Estranged husband who strangled wife who refused ‘one last time’ sex for £100

Martin Cavanagh, left, murdered his estranged wife, Sophie Cavnagh (Pictures: PA)
Martin Cavanagh, left, murdered his estranged wife, Sophie Cavnagh (Pictures: PA)

A man who strangled his former wife in a fit of “pent-up jealousy” after she refused to sleep with him one last time for £100 has been jailed for at least 16 years.

Unemployed Martin Cavanagh, 35, attacked mother-of-two Sophie Cavanagh and then left a message on a whiteboard saying she “deserved it”.

The 31-year-old’s naked body was found in bed at his flat in Bromley, south-east London, in May.

Following a trial at the Old Bailey, Cavanagh, from Bromley, south London, was found guilty of murder and was jailed for life.

Setting a minimum term of 16 years, Judge Michael Grieve QC told him: “You acted out of pent-up jealousy and resolved that if you could not have Sophie no-one else was going to.

“You caused a wholly unnecessary and tragic death of 31-year-old Sophie, much loved by her family and friends, who had most of her life before her.”

Prosecutor Alexandra Healy QC had told the court that the couple married in 2011 but had split up before the killing.

Although the defendant was controlling, jealous and possessive and had a “short fuse”, the couple stayed in contact.

When he found out Mrs Cavanagh was using the dating website Match.com, he accessed her account to sabotage her profile, the court heard.

Jurors were also shown a series of WhatsApp messages he sent her, with one offering £100 if she would sleep with him “one last time”.

Four days before the murder, he told her: “You have broken, shattered and ripped me to shreds. The list goes on.”

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Mrs Cavanagh had agreed to go on a trip to Wingham Wildlife Park in Kent with Cavanagh after he falsely claimed he was facing jail for a robbery.

The young mother’s body was found at the defendant’s flat the next day and Cavanagh gave himself up days later.

Ms Healy said: “The prosecution case is that the defendant murdered Sophie Cavanagh by strangling her. He was consumed with jealousy and unable to accept the end of their relationship.

“Having killed her, it is very likely that he was not thinking straight. He wrote on the child’s whiteboard that she deserved it.”

In his defence, Cavanagh claimed he acted only to protect himself from his wife, who had “attacked” him after they took cocaine.

He said she was hitting him so he grabbed her by the neck, and “had her for 10, 15 or maybe 20 seconds”.

The whiteboard found next to her body said: “U no who u r, so 2 u I say Fnk u + I realy do love u. She deserved it.

“And now me my angel and my princess. Can be 2 geva 4eva and we will Have love and happyness like we deserve.”

In a statement read to the court, Sophie’s mother, Dawn Larkin, said: “Since losing my daughter Sophie, my whole life has changed, it’s like there is a big, black hole – I can no longer phone her or see her, which I miss desperately.

“Her sister Lucy has not only lost a sister, she has lost her best friend.

“Sophie’s children have lost the love of their mum and it’s so hard and heartbreaking that all we have is photos, her ashes and our memories when in fact we should have her here with us.

“Our lives will never be the same again and nothing will fill the void.”

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