A man who concealed the murder of his partner in his flat has been jailed.

Mark Fitzgerald, 62, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 21 years and 168 days after being found guilty over the murder of Lisa Paris, 54, in March 2024.

Plymouth Crown Court heard Fitzgerald pretended to find her unconscious in his Rendle Street flat and shouted for help, but police believe Ms Paris may have been dead for up to 10 days.

She had 70 bruises across her head, neck, body, arms and legs.

The court heard the pair had been together for eight years and lived in the same Rendle Street building.

Ms Paris, a mother of four, mainly stayed in his flat and cared for him because of his health and drinking, said police.

Witnesses said Fitzgerald had a history of violence towards Ms Paris and was convicted in 2020 for attacking her with a knife. They described her as frail and in poor health before her death.

Ms Paris was last seen on CCTV taking out rubbish on 8 March, said police. A maintenance worker visited the flat the next day and noticed what looked like a body hidden under a quilt. Fitzgerald claimed someone was asleep.

When paramedics arrived on 18 March, they found a neighbour doing CPR while Fitzgerald sat on the sofa counting cash, police said.

Judge Robert Linford told Fitzgerald: “I am sure that you viciously battered that poor woman.”

He said he was sure Ms Paris “died at your hand” 10 days before she was found in his flat.

Ms Paris’s family said she was “cruelly taken from us” and they were in a “whirlwind of grief and anger”.

Det Insp Neil Blanchard of Devon and Cornwall Police said after the case Fitzgerald was a “dangerous individual who has never admitted or shown any remorse for his unforgiveable and callous actions”.

He praised Ms Paris’s family for their “patience and dignity” and said he hoped the verdict brings them “some measure of peace”.