Supermarket strangler gets 14 years

A supermarket security guard who made a televised appeal for the return of a missing woman he had strangled must serve at least 14 years behind bars, a top judge has ruled.

Steven Salisbury, aged 39, of Mesnes Green, Lichfield, was found guilty of the murder of housewife Wendy Upton in 2000 and after a trial was jailed for life.

After reviewing the case at London's Royal Courts of Justice, Mr Justice Jack has now ruled that Salisbury must serve a minimum jail "tariff" of 14 years before he can apply for parole.

After time spent on remand is taken into account, the decision means he can ask the Parole Board to free him in the summer of 2013.

Salisbury took part in a police reconstruction of 40-year-old Wendy Upton's movements after she disappeared in October 1998.

In fact he had hidden her body in dense undergrowth behind the Tesco store in Church Street, where it lay for nine months before it was discovered in July 1999.

Only then did he admit he killed her.

During his trial at Stafford Crown Court Salisbury admitted unlawfully killing Mrs Upton, but denied her murder.

The pair had met on the evening of October 7, 1998, in a dark alleyway behind the supermarket and it was Salisbury's case that they quarrelled "over her demand to be given surplus groceries".

Salisbury claimed Mrs Upton "persuaded him against his will to have sexual intercourse" as payment for the groceries and that he strangled her after she threatened to expose him to his wife, or accuse him of rape.

The court heard Salisbury later took his family shopping at Tesco while Mrs Upton's corpse lay yards away.

Setting his 14-year tariff, Mr Justice Jack said the incident had been aggravated by Salisbury hiding the body and then attempting to blame others.

He said that had caused added distress to Mrs Upton's loved ones, sparked groundless rumours and suspicions locally and, at one point, even led to the arrest of an innocent man.

However, Mr Justice Jack added that the lack of premeditation was an important mitigating factor.