Stephen Dowds guilty of Mandy Finn's murder

A manager at Wolverhampton College was this afternoon found guilty of murdering his lecturer lover in a drunken rage by stabbing her 60 times.

The jury returned a unanimous verdict on Stephen Dowds, aged 49, following a day of deliberation at the city's crown court. He will be sentenced later today.

The student services manager was on bail for assaulting psychology lecturer Miss Finn when he turned on her in a tragic end to their "explosive" relationship.

He admitted killing Miss Finn, but claimed he had no memory of the attack.

Today the Express & Star can reveal that Dowds has become the first defendant in the country to rely on a new defence of "loss of control", a change to the law which came in just six weeks before the killing.

But the jury's decision means they were sure Dowds was in control and did intend to kill or badly injure Miss Finn with the eight-inch kitchen knife in November last year.

Miss Finn, a mother-of-two who turned 40 just before she died, was alleged to have repeatedly attacked Dowds over the course of their relationship.

After a night drinking vodka at the flat they shared on Newhampton Road West, Whitmore Reans, Dowds said he had a "Sid Vicious moment" he woke up to find her body behind the sofa.

Today relatives including daughters Jade Stokes and Sallie-Jo Cramman, paid tribute to a "beloved mother, daughter and friend".

A family statement said: "All of Mandy's family have been devastated by themanner in which she has been taken from them."