A MAN who beat his girlfriend to death before trying to dump her body in a shallow grave will remain behind bars until at least 2019.

John Dore enlisted the help of his father to get rid of Kim Banyard's body, but their "elaborate" cover-up attempt was interrupted by police.

Dore, who was 20 at the time, was convicted by an Old Bailey jury and was sentenced to life in prison in November 2003 for the murder of Miss Banyard, a friend of Essex "It" girl Jodie Marsh.

Jodie went on to spearhead a high-profile domestic violence campaign in her friend's memory, in which she featured in pictures depicting her as bruised and beaten.

Reviewing the case at London's Royal Courts of Justice yesterday, Justice Cooke said Dore should spend a minimum of 16 years in jail.

Dore lived with Miss Banyard, 22, in Travers Way, Pitsea, and they had a baby boy in October 2002, but the relationship between them broke down.

The judge said: "The defendant told a friend that he no longer wanted to be with his girlfriend, that he wanted to kill her and that his father would help him, as both his parents hated her."

Miss Banyard was murdered on January 9 or 10, 2003, at the couple's home.

The post mortem revealed she had been strangled and struck on the head with repeated blows with a heavy blunt object such as a hammer.

Justice Cooke said it was likely Ms Banyard was strangled first to stun her, as there was no sign she had defended herself.

Two police officers came across Dore and his father lifting Ms Banyard's body out of the boot of a car to put in a freshly-dug shallow grave in a field on the evening of January 11.

The judge said: "At the scene were a saw, an axe - bought by the defendant on January 10 - and three kitchen knives." He said the weapons raised "obvious implications" about their intentions to dispose of the body.

Dore will not be eligible for release until January 2019, even after time spent on remand is taken into account.

Even then, he will only be freed if he can persuade the Parole Board he poses no serious public danger. When released, he will remain on perpetual "life licence", subject to prison recall.

Dore's father, Stephen Dore, was sentenced to five years for his part in the planned disposal of the body.