Woman who killed veteran friend jailed for 17 years

Anne-Marie Burrowes, 53, was found guilty of murdering her friend

A woman has been jailed a minimum of 17 years after she killed her Royal Navy veteran friend in an assault where she forced a sock down his throat.

Anne-Marie Burrowes, 53, attacked Paul Knowles, 56, at his home in Peterborough in October and left his body for four days before calling police.

She had claimed the killing was self-defence, but a jury at Cambridge Crown Court found her guilty of murder.

Burrowes, of Ellindon in the Bretton area of Peterborough, was given the minimum jail term as part a mandatory life sentence for murder.

Paul Knowles spent 22 years and one day in the Royal Navy, his family said

Det Insp Richard Stott, from the Beds, Cambs and Herts Major Crime Unit, described it as a "horrific and tragic case where a man has lost his life after being violently assaulted".

The two friends would meet regularly at Mr Knowles' flat on Farriers Court in Woodston to drink alcohol, but Burrowes killed the 56-year-old during a visit on 26 October.

Afterwards she left the scene and took Mr Knowles' bank card with her which she used at a shop.

She called the police twice, the first time she told them she had killed a man but gave no further details.

Officers found Mr Knowles' body after the second call, they discovered he had significant injuries to his face, eyes and neck.

A sock had been lodged in the back of his throat, blocking his airways.

Burrowes was tracked down to a property on Mountbatten Way in Ravensthorpe, Peterborough.

According to his family, Mr Knowles served in the navy for 22 years and had fought in the Falklands conflict in 1982 and the first Gulf War in 1991.