A publican who brutally murdered his girlfriend in a “drunken, jealous rage” attempted to strangle another partner in similar circumstances a decade ago, a court has heard.

Mark Tindill, 56, said he “flipped” when Lisa Chadderton – according to his account – told him she had been unfaithful, and he repeatedly punched her and strangled her.

He also stabbed her five times in the neck and once in the left eye – when she was still alive – then dumped the 44-year-old’s body in a utility room at their address in Blackpool, and called a taxi to take him to Kent, where he confessed to his family.

Preston Crown Court was told Tindill had a previous conviction for a domestic violence assault 10 years ago when he erupted into a drunken rage when he read the text messages of his then partner. 

He punched her several times and tried to strangle her before she managed to break free.

Mark Tindill brutally murdered his girlfriend in a jealous rage
Tindill had a previous conviction for domestic violence (Lancashire Police/PA)

On Friday, he was sentenced to life with a minimum custodial term of 15 years before he can be considered for release, after he pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to the murder of Ms Chadderton in the early hours of November 27 last year.

Francis McEntree, prosecuting, said the couple were preparing to open their pub venture, Gillespies, in Topping Street on the day of the murder.

They had moved into the living quarters of the pub a few weeks before, after a three-month relationship which started when Tindill was manager at the Cedar Tavern in the resort and Ms Chadderton, who was originally from Tredegar, south Wales, worked in nearby Abingdon Street market.

Ms Chadderton soon told friends about Tindill’s controlling nature and said she felt “suffocated”, the prosecutor told the court.

Mr McEntree said: “She confided that on any part of the night if she was not with the defendant, or she wanted time on her own, he would get angry with her on the phone or by text.”

Just over a hour after the couple returned home on November 27 following a night out, the defendant left alone in a taxi and was said by the driver to be “very calm” throughout the long journey south.

The victim’s teenage son found her body later the same morning before Tindill was arrested.

Ms Chadderton was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics and a post-mortem concluded she died from a combination of strangulation and stab wounds to the neck.

Tindill told police: “She said she had slept with someone else while I was with her. I just flipped … I was in some sort of zone I couldn’t get out.”

Following sentencing by Judge Mark Brown, the Honorary Recorder of Preston, the weeping defendant turned to Ms Chadderton’s family in the public gallery and said he was sorry before he was led to the cells.

Detectives said they found no evidence that Ms Chadderton was having an affair.

Paying tribute to her, Ms Chadderton’s father Philip, brothers Daryl and Lee and stepmother Cathy said: “Lisa was a friendly, outgoing, beautiful person who loved life. The family are devastated that she was taken away from us prematurely and in such a shocking, violent way.”

Her mother, Mandy Steed, added: “She touched a lot of hearts with her sunny smile, wicked sense of humour and her generosity.”