Partner jailed for balcony murder

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A man who murdered his partner by throwing her from an eighth-floor balcony in east London has been jailed for life at the Old Bailey.

Terence Neale, 51, was found guilty of murdering Ashley Reynolds, 23, who he wrongly suspected was having an affair.

Ms Reynolds, a former Ann Summers party hostess, was heard screaming as she fell from the flat in the Isle of Dogs, east London, on 6 July last year.

Neale, who denied the murder, was jailed for a minimum term of 18 years.

The court heard Ms Reynolds's head was split open.

Judge Paul Worsley told Neale: "She was a young, insecure, timid woman. You were a man of the world.

"She needed your support and affection. What she got was your controlling domination.

"You were jealous of your young partner and feared that her attention may turn elsewhere, something that was entirely unjustified. She was loyal to you."

'Volatile relationship'

Nicholas Atkinson QC, prosecuting, said moments before Ms Reynolds was pushed over the balcony she had been speaking to her sister.

The conversation ended with the 23-year-old saying, "he's coming, he's coming, I'm going, I'm going", Mr Atkinson told the court.

Her mobile telephone was found next to her body in the early hours of the morning.

The couple, who had been together since 2002 and had three children, had a "volatile relationship", the court heard.

A neighbour on the seventh floor heard Ms Reynolds's screams and saw her plunge past his window, before hearing the balcony door above being slowly closed.

The jury in the trial unanimously convicted Neale after the jury in a previous trial had failed to reach a verdict.