Former soldier jailed for murder

Lee Armstrong worked in an antique shop in Chester

A former soldier from Flintshire, who told Samaritans he had killed his partner, has been jailed for life.

Shaun Lewis admitted strangling 28-year-old Lee Armstrong after a fierce argument at their flat in Flint.

Mold Crown Court was told that Lewis had suffered from depression after serving with British forces during the Bosnian war.

Lewis was told he must serve a minimum of 12 years in jail after admitting murder.

The court heard that he called Samaritans in April this year and told them he had "done something bad".

Prosecutor David Potter said Lewis told the helpline: "I don't know what to do. I've killed someone."

Unfaithful

Lewis, 39, then went on to explain: "We were having a terrible row. He grabbed me by the throat and I grabbed his throat."

After Samaritans, he called the police, who found Lewis sitting in his home, with Mr Armstrong dead in a bedroom.

"He was visibly upset and crying," said Mr Potter.

"He said, 'I've strangled him'.

Lewis told police that their argument erupted after he admitted being unfaithful to Mr Armstrong.

The defending barrister Andrew Robertson QC said that Lewis' guilty plea was an indication of true and genuine remorse.

He said the former soldier had suffered from post-traumatic stress after serving in Bosnia and witnessing mass graves and genocide.

The court was told he had been treated for depression, and had tried to take his own life on three occasions.

In a statement to the court, the victim's mother described how she struggled to cope with the loss of her son.

"Not a day passes when I don't think of ending my life," said Barbara Armstrong.

She felt "dead inside" and that her life had been shattered.

Jailing Lewis, Judge John Rogers QC said: "On a Sunday evening in April you took the life of a valued member of society, Lee Armstrong.

"No punishment can even begin to console his mother, his family and his friends."