Former Wolverhampton University student guilty of killing girlfriend
A man has been cleared of murdering his girlfriend following a petty argument at his Black Country home.
But former Wolverhampton University student Daniel Jones was today facing "a substantial" spell behind bars for the manslaughter of Da In Lee. A court has heard how Miss Lee, 22, died after an argument about her hair being found in the bath plughole at Jones's Tipton flat.
A jury found him not guilty of murder but accepted his guilty plea to manslaughter at Wolverhampton Court yesterday, after more than eight hours of deliberations.
Judge John Wait said: "You will be sentenced for the serious offence of manslaughter, which is bound to carry with it a substantial custodial sentence."
Sentencing is due to take place on February 14.
During the five-day trial, the jury heard how Miss Lee, who had come to Birmingham from South Korea to study, met 28-year-old Jones at a church in Birmingham in 2011. She used to visit him at his home in Grace Road but prosecutor Mr Gordon Aspden said their relationship deteriorated.
During the trial, Jones said he never meant to kill his girlfriend. He said there had been a "very petty" argument about cleaning the bathroom and later, Miss Lee had pushed him. Jones said the row on Easter Sunday culminated in him straddling her on the floor with his left hand over her mouth to keep her quiet.
During the trial, the court heard that Miss Lee suffered pressure to her neck, and a pathologist said it was more likely she had been strangled with broad, soft material such as a scarf.
