A killer who is believed to have strangled a "beautiful, caring" mother-of-two before setting her body on fire and burying it in woodland has been jailed for 18 years.

Mohammed Durnion had claimed Reanne Coulson, 33, had died from a drug overdose at his flat on Paynes Lane, Coventry, in May last year.

Durnion, a 42-year-old labourer, said he had taken "stupid amounts" of cocaine and panicked after she died, hiding her body from police under a mattress before burying it in a shallow grave five miles away, Warwick Crown Court heard.

He was cleared of murder on Tuesday after a three-week trial, but convicted of manslaughter after jurors heard he used petrol to set part of Coulson's corpse alight.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, her mother Lynn Sparkes said her daughter's death had left the family with a "lifetime of overwhelming grief".

Prosecutors had told the court her death was caused by her being attacked and strangled by the defendant, but the trial heard there was no categoric evidence to confirm how she died.

As she passed sentence on Durnion, Judge Kristina Montgomery KC told the court he was a dangerous offender and there was a significant risk of violent reoffending.

She ruled that, while the cause of death had not been established, the evidence had shown the defendant strangled Coulson.

He will serve two-thirds of his sentence in custody and then be released on licence, the judge decided.

She said Coulson had been deeply loved by her family and was someone who helped others without hesitation.

She told Durnion he had shown "total contempt for her in life and in death".

"You put her body into a suitcase. You drove around with it on board, covering some considerable distance, to scope out locations where you might dispose of her body on land or in water," she said.

"There were fractures to the structures of the neck. I am satisfied that a hand placed around her neck was the means by which they were sustained."

Durnion's friend and fellow ground worker Adam Moore, 39, was sentenced to six years in prison for assisting an offender by helping in the disposal of Coulson's body.

Moore, of Marlcroft, Willenhall, Coventry, will serve half his sentence in custody before automatic release on licence.

The judge told him: "You lied to police about your involvement in Reanne Coulson's burial, as you lied to the jury during your trial."

He had shown a total lack of conscience, she added, when telling officers he wished he had left the victim's body to rot.

Coulson was last seen near a church meeting she had attended on Raglan Street, Coventry, on 21 May, where she had appeared to be well.

Durnion is believed to have met by chance his victim, who was a sex worker, shortly after she left the support group.

He told police he had asked her to buy drugs for him and there was no sexual contact between them.

Investigators said she went with Durnion to his flat, near the city centre, just after 23:20 BST.

Later that night, police officers were called by Durnion's neighbours, who reported hearing a woman "screaming in fear" inside his flat.

When officers responded, Durnion would not let them in and told them he was having a mental health crisis, pretending his father had cancer.

But he had killed Coulson just minutes earlier, and hidden her body underneath a mattress and duvet.

Police, concerned at that stage for his welfare, tried to encourage him to seek help, but he left the flat and walked away.

Officers then forced their way into his property, which had no electricity and a bucket for a toilet, but did not find any clear sign of anyone there, the West Midlands force said.

Durnion returned to the flat in the early hours of 22 May, after police had left, and retrieved Coulson's body and put it in a suitcase.

He drove to the woods, where he dug a shallow grave and used petrol to burn her body, which was then not discovered until five-and-a-half weeks later.

During the trial Durnion had admitted to "manhandling" Coulson, but could give no explanation for the severe head and neck injuries she had suffered.

A post-mortem examination was unable to establish a cause of death, but revealed Coulson appeared to have sustained the injuries while she was alive.

When her body was found, the examination of it showed burn injuries that were inflicted following her death.

Durnion was arrested on 24 June, two weeks after Coulson was reported missing.

While in custody, he was shown an emotional appeal from her family and agreed to lead officers to where he had hidden his victim's remains.

Police footage filmed in woodland on 27 June last year shows the killer pointing towards undergrowth, telling police "she is under there" and saying the body was "deep enough".

Coulson's mum and twin sister Kirsten were among family members in court as the two men were sentenced.

Sparkes' statement, read by a prosecution barrister, said: "Reanne was a beautiful, caring, loving person whose infectious laugh could light up any room.

"She had a heart of gold and was always willing to help anyone in need.

"The pain of losing my daughter in such a violent way is something I carry in every moment."

Coulson's twin said she had been left with an overwhelming sense of emptiness.

"I am still trying to comprehend a world where my twin no longer exists," she said in her statement.

Describing taking part in media appeals to trace her missing sister as one of the most difficult things she had ever had to do, she said: "Being a twin is more than a family relationship, it is a shared existence."

The sentencing hearing was told Durnion had 14 previous convictions, including for battery and assault.

In mitigation, David Mason KC said the "hardened criminal" had "completely gone off the rails and got himself in a terrible, terrible situation".

He added his client, having stopped taking drugs, had taken officers to Coulson's body out of concern for her family and indicated they should not tread on her grave.

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