British 'gigolo' Ian Griffin jailed for 20 years for girlfriend's murder in Paris

A British businessman described as a "gigolo" was jailed for 20 years for murdering his girlfriend in a five-star Paris hotel.

The jury in the French capital found 45-year-old Ian Griffin guilty despite his claim that he had no recollection of the incident because he had blacked out in their room at the exclusive Le Bristol hotel near the Champs Elysees in May 2009.

His wealthy Polish-born girlfriend, Kinga Wolf, 36, died of massive internal bleeding. Her skull, jaw and larynx were smashed and more than 100 marks were found on her body, from her face to her feet.

The court rejected the defence's arguments, saying Griffin was responsible for his actions and pointed to his "attempts to delay the discovery of the body", and to his contradictory account of the events as proof of his guilt.

Griffin made no reaction as the verdict was read out, but his new girlfriend Tracy Baker - with whom he had a baby while he was on bail - collapsed in tears.

The prosecution described Griffin as a "gigolo", who had no visible source of income but lived off his wealthy girlfriends, such as Wolf, who owned an international company that supplied tomatoes to supermarkets.