CHRISTOPHER COLE

SEAFORD MAN JAILED FOR LIFE FOR FIANCÉE'S CAMPSITE MURDER

A man has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of his fiancée Sarah Clayton during a camping trip at Buckle caravan and camping site in Marine Parade, Seaford, East Sussex, in May 2018.

Christopher Cole, aged 31 and a cleaner from Wick, Littlehampton, West Sussex, was convicted at Lewes Crown Court of murdering Ms.

Clayton, 21.

During his trial, it was revealed how Cole pretended to a emergency call handler that he was performing CPR after claiming to have found her unresponsive in their tent.

However, witnesses testified that Cole was merely counting aloud and not performing resuscitation.

A post-mortem could not conclusively identify a cause of death, but pathologists suggested she might have been smothered with a pillow.

Sussex Police stated that Cole was given instructions on how to carry out CPR, but witnesses saw him not actually performing it, and heard choking noises from the tent with a man saying: 'If you don't shut up, I will shut you up.' Following his conviction, Detective Constable Scott Elmer commented on the case, highlighting the tragic loss of Sarah’s life and noting that Cole had murdered her by smothering her in May 2018.

Cole was sentenced to serve a minimum of 16 years in prison.