Christopher McGowan murdered Claire Inglis (Picture: The Central Scotland News Agency)

A man who murdered his new girlfriend after being bailed to her home has been jailed for 23 years.

Christopher McGowan, 28, battered Claire Inglis, also 28, to death after he was released from jail into the flat she shared with her young son in November 2021.

The pair had only been together for eight weeks.

The High court in Edinburgh heard how McGowan was granted bail after claiming he did not want to attend hid mother’s funeral in handcuffs, the BBC reports.

He also said he was in a ‘positive’ relationship with Ms Inglis.

Once he was in the flat, he began to pawn Ms Inglis’s possessions, including a watch she had received for her 21st birthday and her son’s PlayStation.

He then beat and strangled Ms Inglis before burning her with a lighter and shoving a wet wipe down her throat.

She sustained 76 injuries during the attack, including blunt force impacts to her head and face, and bruising to her entire skull.

Claire Inglis sustained 76 injuries

McGowan followed paramedics into the hallway saying Ms Inglis had tken calium and cocaine, and had fallen down the stairs.

Taxi driver David Addison told the court he had picked up McGowan and Ms Inglis the night before her murder in Stirling city centre.

He said in police statement after Ms Inglis left the taxi, McGowan said whispered: ‘I’ll kill you.’

‘It was horrible, not nice, the tone of his language. It was very demanding,’ Mr Addison said.

It took just over two hours for the jury to convict McGowan, who had 40 previous convictions and was five bail orders at the time of the attack, of murder.

McGowan was jailed for a minimum of 23 years (Picture: PA)

He told the court a range of accounts, even claiming Ms Inglis had overdosed on valium and he tried to save her life.

Judge Michael O’Grady said McGowan’s actions were ‘beyond sadistic’ as he issued a life sentence.

He added Ms Inglis had suffered ‘nothing short of torture’.

‘It was difficult to portray the brutality of what you inflicted on her. You have shown not a flicker of emotion, distress or remorse,’ the judge said.

‘It is clear that you have accepted no responsibility and you have gone to great lengths to minimise your involvement.’

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‘It was difficult to portray the brutality of what you inflicted on her.’