A young thug has today been convicted of murdering his 17-year-old ex-girlfriend from Kent after discovering she was pregnant with his child.

Ben Blakeley strangled Jayden Parkinson - who used to live in Folkestone - before hiding her body in his uncle's grave in Didcot, Oxfordshire.

The 22-year-old had admitted killing the teenager, but denied murder. He was convicted at Oxford Crown Court this afternoon and is now facing life behind bars.

Blakeley - who had a history of violence and threatened to post naked pictures of Miss Parkinson online after their relationship ended - will be sentenced tomorrow.

The jury is yet to deliver its verdict against Blakeley's 17-year-old brother Jake, charged with helping to bury the body. Jurors will continue deliberating tomorrow morning.

Miss Parkinson's mother burst into tears and walked out of court when the verdict was returned.

Her daughter had been seen on camera leaving a hostel in Oxford where she had been staying on December 3 last year.

Jurors were told other CCTV footage showed her at Didcot station with Blakeley.

Two weeks later, her body was found in disturbed grave in a church cemetery.

Prosecutors said Miss Parkinson was killed by Blakeley, from Reading, on the evening of her disappearance in open countryside.

He was alleged to have been told when they met that Miss Parkinson was pregnant with his child.

Jurors were told Blakeley was an "obsessive and controlling character" who regularly beat his former girlfriend.

Police earlier revealed a post-mortem examination showed Miss Parkinson died as a result of "pressure to the neck".

Miss Parkinson's funeral was held at St Martin's Church in Horn Street, Cheriton, in January.

Hundreds of mourners gathered before the teenager was laid to rest in the church cemetery surrounded by flowers.

Jayden and her family lived in Tennyson Place, Folkestone, before moving away several years ago