MILLIONAIRE property developer Peter Morgan has been been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 25 years for the ‘cold blooded’ murder of his escort girlfriend Georgina Symonds.

Sentencing Morgan this afternoon Mr Justice Neil Garnham said that in his opinion the murder had been carefully planned and calmly executed.

“You killed her out of cold anger at what you discovered she had done and fear of what she might do in the future,” he said.

Mr Justice Garnham said that the jury had rejected the defences of diminished responsibility and loss of self-control, adding that in his judgement they were right to do so.

He said he had read and re-read the psychiatric reports prepared and found the evidence of Professor Simon Baron-Cohen ‘compelling’ and as such accepted that Morgan had Asperger’s Syndrome which lowered his degree of culpability ‘to a modest extent’, adding that Morgan had no history of violence.

“In my judgement, you have only a mild form of that condition.

“You were able to form a rational judgement and you were capable of exercising self-control,” he said.

Mr Justice Garnham said that the relationship between Ms Symonds and Morgan had been ‘essentially commercial’ and noted that Morgan had no history of violence. He had previously told the court he would treat Morgan as a man of good character.

In sentencing Mr Justice Garnham told the court that on the morning he killed Ms Symonds, Morgan fed his dogs, checked his work emails and went to the bank following the killing.

“It is perfectly plain that it was your intention then to try and avoid responsibility for the killing, if you could.”

He said that after realising that Ms Symonds had no respect and no time for him Morgan had pliantly determined the way in which he would kill her but put a towel over her face while he strangled her as he could not bear to see her face.