A JUDGE described music teacher Andrew Lindo as “cunning, cruel and calculating” as he sentenced him to 22 years in prison for the murder of Marie Stewart.

Mr Justice Andrew Smith said it was “chilling” that Lindo had shown no remorse after brutally murdering his fiancee Miss Stewart, 30, at their Holmfirth home.

Throughout the sentencing at Bradford Crown Court, Lindo stared forwards blankly and expressionless, his hands clasped in front of him.

The 29-year-old – in a grey suit and blue striped tie – did not flinch when the judge told him he would serve a minimum of 22 years.

Mr Justice Smith told Lindo: “When you have served it, it will be for others to consider whether it is safe to release you. Those faced with the decision will weigh it carefully.

“They will be wary of your extraordinary cunning and facility for deceit. They will also reflect upon how someone could be as calm and calculating as you were so soon after such a murder.

“They will consider all the texts that you sent that evening, and they will ask themselves whether your mental state can sufficiently be comprehended for it to be safe to release you.”

Lindo brutally murdered Marie – who was a special needs carer at Holmfirth High School – on December 18 last year, while their two children slept in their rooms at their rented house on Perseverance Place, Holmfirth.

Mr Justice Smith said: “The murder was not planned, but the attack on her was vicious and sustained.

“You assaulted Marie in bed, and tried to throttle her. You used a suitcase to haul her to the living room.

“She was still alive. I am prepared to suppose – having considered the evidence – she was not conscious.

“You battered her face with a solid wood chair and you tried to strangle her with a belt.

“You pulled her to the garage, covered her face in bubble wrap plastic and then inflicted fatal blows with a knife, stabbing her at least eight times.

“Your children were in the house at the time.”

Lindo then stuffed Marie’s body in a flight bag and hid it in the garage – her remains were not discovered by police for nearly two months.

Mr Justice Smith said Marie had been devoted to Lindo and their children and said that she had recently found out that Lindo was cheating on her.

He told Lindo: “I cannot tell why you killed Marie Stewart, still less why you killed her so brutally – whether there was a motive and if so what it was.

“I do not accept that you were provoked or suffering prolonged stress.

“But that evening you faced a crisis in the double life that you were leading.”

The judge said that Lindo had become scared that his lover Angela Rylance would find out that he was living with Marie.

He said: “You had convinced Angela Rylance that you were a single father deserted by your partner, and you were committed to having her spend the night at your home.