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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
National

Pharmacist guilty of murdering wife to start new life in Australia with boyfriend

Victim: Jessica Patel, who was killed by her husband who wanted to claim a £2m life insurance policy (Picture: PA)

A pharmacist has been found guilty of murdering his wife so he could start a new life with his boyfriend in Australia.

Mitesh Patel, 37, injected his wife Jessica with insulin and strangled her with a Tesco bag-for-life at their Middlesbrough home, then staged a break-in to make it look like an intruder had attacked her and bound her with tape.

There was no visible reaction from Patel as the verdict was announced, but there were cries of 'Yes' from the public gallery.

The couple ran a successful pharmacy together but their marriage was unhappy, with the husband repeatedly seeking sex with men he met on the Grindr dating app.

And he was secretly in a relationship with his "soulmate" Dr Amit Patel, who had emigrated to Sydney and with whom he hoped to bring up his and Jessica's IVF baby after her death.

The husband was convicted of her murder at Teesside Crown Court after the jury heard Patel had made internet searches dating back years, including "I need to kill my wife", "insulin overdose", "plot to kill my wife, do I need a co-conspirator?", "hiring hitman UK" and "how much methadone will kill you?".

Mr Justice Goss told the jury a life sentence was mandatory and he will determine the minimum term Patel must serve behind bars on Wednesday morning.

He will hear victim statements from Jessica's grandmother, father and a joint one by her siblings and cousins before he sentences.

The jury unanimously found Patel guilty after deliberating for around three hours on the 12th day of the trial.

The judge told Patel: "You have been convicted by the jury and you will be sentenced to life imprisonment and that will happen tomorrow morning.

"I will also fix the minimum term you will have to serve before you can be considered for release in many years to come."

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