Briton jailed in Australia 26 years after killing and incinerating girlfriend

Stephen Hutton, who strangled Sandra White and left body in burning caravan, gets four years but is up for parole next week

A British man who strangled his girlfriend and then burned her body in a small Australian town 26 years ago has been sentenced to four years in jail.

Stephen Hutton of Hampshire was extradited to Australia in 2009 to face charges in the 1985 death of Sandra White. White's remains were found in a burned-out caravan in Yandoit, north-west of Melbourne.

Officials were initially unable to determine a cause of death. Police reopened the case in 2005 and Hutton became a suspect.

Hutton pleaded guilty in the supreme court of Victoria to manslaughter and was sentenced on Wednesday. He will be eligible for parole next week due to time served.

Hutton and his lawyer blamed mental illness for the crime, arguing that he has schizophrenia.


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