OUR beautiful girl can rest in peace now justice has been done.

That was the message from mother Angela Shields, tired and drained from listening to three days of evidence detailing how her youngest child was murdered.

Mrs Shields said she feels a “sense of relief” after a Spanish jury found Christopher Chittock guilty of killing his girlfriend, her daughter, Sarah Shields.

Speaking from her home in Ramsgate Drive, Ipswich, just hours after returning home from Gran Canaria yesterday, Mrs Shields and her husband David said they now have closure after Chittock “got what he deserved”.

“The trial was so emotional,” Mrs Shields said. “It was so difficult for us all. Our beautiful girl can rest in peace, now we have got justice for her.”

She added: “I will never be able to forgive him; he took our lovely girl and we miss her terribly. Our lives aren’t the same without her and they never will be.

“But, knowing he will pay for what he has done, I have to find the strength now to move on.

“We will never forget Sarah, but we can finally try to put what happened to her behind us.”

Sarah’s older brother, Paul Davis, said hearing Chittock was guilty was like a weight lifting off his shoulders.

He said: “Before the trial, I actually felt for him.

“I thought it was an alcohol-induced mindless act that had ruined his life, his family’s lives and ours too.

“But listening to what he did to my sister, what he put her through, all I think is that he is evil.

“How can you do that to another human being?

“And one who never saw the bad in anyone?

“We would like to thank both the Spanish and English police authorities for their support and hard work.

“It’s been a very long and emotional few years and we are glad it has finally come to an end.

“Our thoughts also go out to his (Chittock’s) family, who have no doubt suffered too.”