A 60-year-old teacher has been found guilty of murdering his estranged wife at her Merseyside home so that he could start a new life with his mistress.

William Collis strangled Georgina Ryder, the mother of his five children, in Kirkby and drove to Scotland where he dumped her body in a loch last July.

The jury at Preston Crown Court heard that a few days later he moved in with his mistress in Hertfordshire.

Collis, who denied murdering his wife, was jailed for life.

He was ordered to serve a minimum of 17 years in prison before being eligible for parole.

'Wicked crime'

The court was told that after strangling his wife, Collis - also known as John Ryder - told family and friends that the pair had patched up their relationship and had gone travelling around Europe in a camper.

In reality he had landed an IT teaching job at Sherrardswood Independent School in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, and had moved in with his lover Anne Farrell, who he had rekindled a romance with on the Friends Reunited website.

The couple had known each other since they were 17 and had been previously engaged.

The jury was told that Mrs Ryder's death went undetected until family members reported her missing in October.

Collis, of The Paddocks, Welwyn Garden City, was arrested after a nationwide manhunt as he was trying to board a ferry to Ireland at a port in south Wales.

Subsequent inquiries revealed he had taken £12,000 of her savings.

Collis confessed to the killing and directed police to Mrs Ryder's body near the shores of Loch Ariel in Argyll.

Collis told detectives he had acted in self defence after she had attacked him with a car steering lock in the garage of their home in Spinney Close, Merseyside.

The jury was told the couple had a turbulent and violent 31-year marriage with Collis being attacked by Mrs Ryder on occasions, and he had walked out of the marriage in 2004.

Cancer claim

Within six weeks he had moved in with his former lover, Anne Farrell.

The jury heard that in January 2005 Mrs Ryder told him she had terminal breast cancer, which he later found out was not life-threatening.

A year later her health deteriorated and she again told him she did not have long to live.

Mr Collis said he believed her again and moved back in to look after her but continued his relationship with Ms Farrell.

However, the row between Collis and Mrs Ryder continued and came to a climax on 15 July when he strangled her after claiming she had hit him with a car steering lock.

Judge Anthony Russell said: "This is a wicked crime. Your wife did not deserve to have her life removed in the garage at her home. You could have walked away from the situation."

He added that the manner in which her body was disposed of was a "seriously aggravating factor".

TEACHER William Collis, who took a job at Sherrardswood School only days after strangling his wife, has been jailed for life for her murder.

The 60-year-old, who was convicted on Friday after a trial at Preston Crown Court, will have to serve at least 17 years before he is considered for release on parole.

Collis, who formed a relationship with Welwyn Garden City woman Anne Farrell in 2004, killed Georgina Ryder, his wife of 31 years, in July last year at their home in Merseyside.

He drove her body more than 300 miles to a remote Scottish loch, where it was dumped wrapped in a sleeping bag.

To prevent her disappearance arousing suspicion, he had concocted a story that, having patched up their marriage, they were taking a long holiday in Europe.

But in reality he had returned to Ms Farrell's home in The Paddocks with thousands of pounds of his wife's money.

It was not until October that one of their five children told police her mother was missing.

Arrested on his way to Ireland, Collis admitted killing her, and guided police to her decomposed remains.

But at his trial, he maintained he had acted in self-defence after she had hit him with a car lock in a furious row.

Collis started work as head of IT at the private school near Welwyn village in the autumn term of 2006, but was dismissed after failing to turn up for work in October.