Conman's life sentence for murder

Glenn Rycroft will serve at least 25 years for the killing 'Fantasy world' of hotel killer

A convicted conman found guilty of murdering his lover has been jailed for life.

Glenn Rycroft, 33, must serve at least 25 years for killing Gareth Macdonald, 30, from Prestatyn, Denbighshire.

Rycroft, originally from Salford but now from Flintshire, hit him over the head twice with a fire extinguisher in a Travelodge hotel room near London.

The Old Bailey heard that Mr Macdonald had left his wife and children to move in with Rycroft.

The couple had travelled to London so Rycroft could pay back £5,000 to his aunt and uncle, from whom he had previously conned the money.

But during the trip, Mr Macdonald's body was found by staff at Heston Services on the westbound M4, near Heathrow airport.

You lived, and have for many years lived, in a fantasy world of your own warped imaginings Judge Timothy Pontius

Rycroft, a former British Airways steward, claimed he was asked to leave the hotel room by his partner, who he said had arranged to meet a male prostitute, but on his return he found Mr Macdonald's body.

But the court heard Rycroft's shoes were found to be spattered with Mr Mcdonald's blood and his fingerprints were found on the fire extinguisher.

The jury was also told that the victim had started to become suspicious of his lover after money started going missing from his bank account.

Mr Macdonald, a former pub landlord, had confided in his estranged wife that he "always seemed to be paying the bills".

It also emerged that in the days leading up to the murder, Rycroft made a series of internet searches including "how to kill" and "can blows to the head kill".

Police believed he may also have tampered with Mr MacDonald's insulin doses.

Terminal cancer

The court heard Rycroft was previously jailed for four years after he swindled friends and relatives out of more than £200,000 with an investment scam.

He also took more money from them by pretending he had terminal cancer before finally being jailed in 2003.

During the trial, he was branded a "fantasist and cowardly killer" who resorted to violence when his lies were exposed.

In a statement read to the court, Mr Macdonald's mother Susan said her family was still coming to terms with the circumstances in which her son was killed.

"To learn Gareth was taken in such a horrendous way by someone we trusted and made welcome in to our house is still unthinkable," the statement said.

"Gareth was not only my son but also my friend and I miss him so much. It is such a waste."

'Thoroughly dishonest'

Her statement continued: "Words cannot really explain the pain of losing your child in the circumstance that Gareth died."

Judge Timothy Pontius told Rycroft: "You are not only a thoroughly dishonest man but also a thoroughly unscrupulous and utterly cold-hearted one. You lived, and have for many years lived, in a fantasy world of your own warped imaginings."

He said Rycroft had tried to "fool" the jury into thinking he was not responsible for the "vicious murder".

"The facts of this case demonstrated clearly not a sudden unpremeditated attack arising out of a momentary loss of temper but a considered, planned determination to kill Gareth Macdonald," he said.

"The use of that 8kg fire extinguisher to strike him with merciless brutality at least twice to the head - the second blow following the first after a period of three minutes or more - provides the clearest evidence there could be of an intention not merely to cause serious injury but specifically to kill."