A jealous man who strangled his estranged wife after she refused to have sex with him "one last time" has been jailed for life.

Sophie Cavanagh, 31, was naked when she was found dead at her ex-husband's home in Chatterton Road on May 20.

Martin Cavanagh, 35, was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 16 years at the Old Bailey today.

The court heard how he was "controlling, jealous and possessive".

He scrawled the words "she deserved it" on a whiteboard near to where Mrs Cavanagh's body lay in bed.

READ MORE: Bromley murder: Friends pay tribute to Sophie Cavanagh

The couple married in 2011 and split up before the killing.

When he found out she was using the dating website Match.com, he accessed her account to sabotage her profile, the court heard.

He also sent her a message on WhatsApp offering £100 if she would sleep with him “one last time”, the jury heard.

Mrs Cavanagh was strangled at night after she spent the day visiting Wingham Wildlife Park in Kent with Cavanagh.

The court heard Cavanagh stripped his wife and put her into bed to make it look as though she died in her sleep.

Mrs Cavanagh's best friend from school, Stacey Lyons, 28, told News Shopper after her death: "I was her babysitter, she was mine, I was her shoulder to cry on when the kids were driving her mad and she was mine.

 

"We borrowed each other's clothes, shared birth stories and held each other's hand when we finally plucked up the courage to take the kids out for the day."

Sophie Cavanagh's family said her killer was "nasty and abusive" and he "deserves to rot in prison for the rest of his life".

Detective chief inspector Richard Vandenbergh said: "This has been a tragic case to investigate. Sophie was a young woman who lost her life in her prime to a man who was controlling and abusive, and whom she had been petitioning for a divorce.

"Cavanagh will now have a significant amount of time to reflect upon the irreparable damage his wicked actions have caused to her family, and especially his own two young children; they have been robbed of a loving mother by their own father.

"A custodial sentence will, I'm sure, serve of little comfort to Sophie's family, but I hope they will appreciate that justice has been done."