Ex-royal aide jailed for murder

Sarah Ferguson was said to be shocked by Cressman's death

LONDON, England -- A former aide to Britain's Duchess of York has been jailed for life for murdering her lover by stabbing him to death.

Jane Andrews, 34, had denied murdering Thomas Cressman, 40, in their London home in a fit of rage.

During the month-long trial, the Old Bailey criminal court in London heard that Andrews was an "intense person" who stabbed her lover to death while he slept after he refused to marry her.

The court also heard how she beat Cressman over the head with a cricket bat while he was still in bed and then stabbed him with a large kitchen knife.

The court heard that after the killing Andrews fled to the west of England and was found three days later in her car in a layby, having taken an overdose of painkillers.

After three days in hospital she first told police officers she knew nothing about the killing. Later she said she had acted in self defence.

A close friend of Andrews said her troubled relationship with Cressman had been compounded by her losing her job as personal dresser to Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York and popularly known as Fergie, for whom she worked for nine years until 1997.

The Duchess of York, who is in the United States, declined to comment on the verdict.

Jane Andrews, dressed in black, sat ashen faced but showed no emotion as the jury forewoman announced the majority 11 to one guilty verdict.

The victim's parents, Barbara and Harry Cressman, embraced each other and gasped with relief at the jury's decision.

Judge Michael Hyam told Andrews she had killed an unarmed man and left him to die "without remorse."