THE MAN found guilty of murdering his estranged wife on a Newport street last summer, has been sentenced to life imprisonment.

Appearing before Newport Crown Court today, Parry, 50, from Cwmbran was given a life sentence and told he would serve at least 26 years in prison for murdering Caroline Parry.

On August 8, 2013, Parry shot his estranged wife Caroline Parry, 49, in the back twice, killing her, before turning the semi-automatic shot gun on himself in a failed bid to take his own life.

Parry admitted manslaughter, but denied murder claiming he drove to Seabreeze Avenue, intending only to kill himself in front of Mrs Parry. He told police: “I would shoot myself so she would remember how much I loved her."

Defending, Roger Thomas QC had told the jury Parry is and was suffering from severe depression which “substantially impaired his responsibility for his act”.

The couple were married for 27 years and had two children, but Mrs Parry left the family home in April 2013.

Prosecutor Michael Mather-lees told the jury Parry, who had three shotgun licenses, was a "controlling dominant individual who could not tolerate the fact his wife had left him."

He said: “This was a man who could not let go."

On Wednesday, the jury returned a majority verdict of 10-1, after deliberating since Friday afternoon.

Speaking yesterday, Judge Wynn Williams said: “The view I have taken is that when he left the house that morning, he had by then, formed the intention to kill.”

Mitigating, Roger Thomas QC, said: “Parry confronted his wife with the intention of making a dramatic gesture.

“He completely lost it and formed the intention –‘if I can’t have her nobody can’. His overwhelming desire was to get her to return. She dismissed that and that was the last straw.

“This was a man in turmoil. This offence is genuinely tragic.”

Addressing Parry, who appeared in the dock assisted by two helpers, Judge Williams said: “You chose to kill your wife in a public place, by shooting her. You took with you a loaded weapon and I’m satisfied that by the time you left your home, you had an intention to kill her. You had loaded the gun with three cartridges.”

The judge said he accepted that from the moment he intended to kill his wife, Parry also decided to kill himself. He also accepted Caroline Parry’s departure from the family home in April 2013 came as a “great shock” to Parry and as a consequence, he developed a depressive illness.

He added: “It was not of significant severity to persuade the jury it substantially impaired responsibility for your actions.

“By your actions, you’ve deprived your wife of her life, you have deprived your daughter and son and their mother, brought grief and unhappiness to many people and your life has been ruined.”

Parry had no previous convictions and had been described as a “hard-working, family man”.