A man has been found guilty of murdering Laois nanny Aoife Phelan.

25-year-old Robert Corbet of Sheffield Cross, Portlaoise admitted strangling her but claimed he "lost all self control" after she provoked him.

Robert Corbet and Aoife Phelan met in a nightclub in June 2012.

They had sex a few weeks later and shortly afterwards, he claims she text him to say she was late.

On Oct 25th 2012, he strangled her to death in his garage after she allegedly threatened to ruin his life over the pregnancy.

Afterwards, he dropped her into a barrel which he then rolled into a pit on his land.

The pit was filled in and her body was found 10 feet underneath almost a fortnight later.

A post-mortem revealed she wasn't pregnant at the time.

From the outset of this trial, Robert Corbet pleaded guilty to her manslaughter but denied murder claiming he was provoked and didn't intend to kill her.

But after just under four and a half hours of deliberations, the jury found him guilty of murder by a majority verdict of ten to two.

In a statement read out in court, Aoife's mother described her as "beautiful, bubbly and happy" while her father spoke of his heartache in never being able to walk her down the aisle on her wedding day.

Robert Corbet looked distressed before and after the verdict was delivered and he has now been taken away to begin a life sentence behind bars.