David Ellis jailed for life for 'brutal' murder of landlord Alec Warburton

A man who attacked his landlord with a hammer before dumping his body in a quarry and then going on the run has been jailed for life.

David Craig Ellis, 41, smashed the skull of Alec Warburton following a row over unpaid rent.

Weeks before the killing, Ellis had sent a note to his fellow housemates pretending to be the 59-year-old bachelor, saying that he was "going away for a while".

After bludgeoning Mr Warburton to death in his own home in Sketty, Swansea, Ellis drove his landlord's lifeless body 200 miles to north Wales before throwing it almost 100ft down the side of a disused slate mine.

Ellis later jumped on a ferry from Birkenhead to Belfast before going on the run.

He was eventually arrested at a guest house in Galway, Ireland, more than a month later.

Ellis had admitted manslaughter and claimed he had "lost control" after his landlord made unwanted sexual advances towards him.

But on the third day of deliberations, a jury convicted Ellis of murder.

Today, Ellis was told he must serve a minimum of 26 years before being able to seek release.