Aspiring model: Sarah Shields, 23, was beaten up and strangled before being dumped in the sea while on holiday in Gran Canaria
A would-be glamour model was brutally murdered by her boyfriend during a holiday in Gran Canaria because she had been in contact with her former partner, police and prosecutors are claiming.
Sarah Shields, 23, was beaten up and strangled to death by Chris Chittock, 38, before being dumped naked in the sea, prosecutors will allege at his trial.
Her family raised the alarm after she failed to return home to Ipswich, Suffolk, after the two-week holiday on the Spanish island.
Chittock allegedly sent his girlfriend's family texts from her mobile claiming she was back in Britain after her break.
But her body was then washed up on Balito Beach, a popular tourist destination near Puerto Rico in the south west of Gran Canaria, sparking a murder investigation.
Chittock, who lived with his young girlfriend, was arrested and extradited back to Spain following the death in July 2010.
Spanish prosecutors want him jailed for 20 years if he is convicted of killing his lover in a trial next February.
The prosecution claims that Chittock attacked Miss Shields after discovering that she had been in contact with her former boyfriend on Facebook.
The defendant, an engineer at gas company BOC in Ipswich, had met his girlfriend at work and they had moved in together just four months before the holiday.
She had posted on Facebook how excited she was to be going away with her boyfriend for the first time in the days before her break.
An entry on a modelling website believed to have been written by Miss Shields in 2005 said she was working part-time for a retail chain but wanted to 'make a name for myself in the modelling industry'.
She added she hoped to do topless or lingerie modelling before saying: 'One of my main influences is Katie Price.'
Details of the case have emerged for the first time from the prosecution's indictment.
It is alleged that Chittock hit his girlfriend in a violent rage in their room at the Balito Beach Apartments in Mogan.
Chittock then dragged Sarah to the beach where he repeatedly punched her in the face before strangling her, it is claimed.
Tests revealed that Sarah had suffered a broken nose.
Accused: Chris Chittock, 38, will stand trial accused of murdering his girlfriend Sarah Shields, 23, while they were on holiday together in July 2010
A post-mortem examination revealed that she had been strangled.
Guardia Civil police found her body on July 7, 2010, about 50 feet from the shoreline.
The Spanish authorities have been given permission to hold Chittock in custody for two years while they prepare the case.
Brutal attack: Sarah had written on Facebook in the weeks before the Gran Canaria holiday that she was looking forward to going away with her boyfriend for the first time
The court heard in July 2010 how Chittock had allegedly sent texts from his girlfriend's phone.
John Fenn, prosecuting, said: 'He [Chittock] returned to this country. He brought with him her [Miss Shields'] mobile phone.
'At various locations, he sent texts from her phone purporting to come from her to the effect that she was alive and well, whereas in fact she had been killed some days earlier.'
At that hearing, Mark Holt, defending, said Chittock denied murdering Miss Shields.
Holiday island: The couple were staying near Puerto Rico (pictured) on Gran Canaria for their two-week holiday in July 2010
Her older brother Paul Davies said: 'I have had to track down any information myself. We believe the trial will be in February but no one has been able to confirm that officially with me.
'I have spoken to the Foreign Office and the British Consulate but no one seems to be able to push the case, it seems utterly ridiculous.
'We are worried it could all go ahead without us knowing.
'Someone will be informing his [Chittock's] family - it seems very unfair that they are not obliged to let us know.'
Read more: dailymail
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