A MAN who hid in the loft of his ex-girlfriend's house before strangling her to death has been jailed for life.

William Mack had been in a turbulent six-year relationship with Leanne Wall and the 39 year old had suffered from anger problems, Manchester Crown Court heard today.

Mack, of no fixed address, had convinced himself that the 36 year old had cheated on him at a party in Prestwich in February.

Over the course of the following week, Mack sent text messages to friends, furiously trying to find out whether Wall had been with another man at the birthday get-together - though there was no evidence that she had done anything wrong.

Mack told friends that he might have to "take care of her" or torture her to "get the truth out of her," Judge Patrick Field was told.

The court heard that Mack had previously been to jail for committing violent acts and, when the couple got together in 2009, Miss Wall's friends were confused about why she would want to be with a man known as being a criminal.

He had suffered anger problems and Miss Wall had sent him text messages accusing him of locking her in the house, threatening to harm her pet dog and threatening to strangle her.

Police had previously been called to Miss Wall's home in Conway Avenue twice, responding to reports of domestic violence. However, no charges were ever brought against Mack.

On one occasion, he had barricaded himself in an upstairs bedroom and threatened to self harm. When challenged by police, he offered to fight them.

Another time, Mack threatened to leave the gas on and cause an explosion at the address.

Miss Wall told him to leave their house on February 11.

LEANNE WALL MURDER: Relationship that started against all odds and ended in tragedy

While sending her text messages that attempted to convince her that he had left, Mack was actually hiding in her loft the court heard.

That night, he had taken a sleeping bag, food and drink into the loft and slept.

The next morning, he waited until Miss Wall had woken up and then got out of the loft.

Mack approached her on the upstairs landing and headbutted Miss Wall - breaking her nose - before taking a belt and strangling her.

The court heard that Mack had said that, during the attack, he had stopped to go downstairs to attend to the couple's daughter, Elise, who was 16 months old at the time.

He then went upstairs to resume the attack and killed Miss Wall before running off.

Police found him later that morning on the hard shoulder of the M60 motorway.

Mack initially denied murder but admitted it last Thursday.

Judge Patrick Field sentenced him to life, with a minimum term of 16 years, minus the 118 days he has served on remand.

It means Mack must stay in prison for at least 16 years and, afterwards, can only be released when a parole board says so.

Upon his release, Mack must stay on licence for the rest of his life, meaning he can be recalled to prison if he commits further offences.

Senior Investigating Officer Duncan Thorpe, from GMP's Major Incident team, said : "Today William Mack has been sentenced for the murder of his partner, Leanne Wall.

"This is such a sad loss of life. Leanne has left behind a one-year-old daughter who will have to grow up without her mum.

"Mack's jealousy ended up ruining the lives of so many people now he will spend the next 16 years in prison for his crimes.

"What happened to Leanne was a tragedy and her family and friends went through something that nobody ever should.

"I know the sentence passed here today won't change what happened but I hope it will go some way to giving them all some form of closure."

"My heart goes out to all of them, especially Leanne's daughter."