A MAN accused of killing a University of Brighton student by burning her to death has been convicted of her manslaughter.

Christopher Jeffrey-Shaw has been found guilty of manslaughter meaning he knew Janet Muller was in the boot of his car when he set it alight, but thought her to be dead.

He was cleared of murder.

The jury at Guildford Crown Court were satisfied he did not pick her up from Brighton the night she went missing on March 12.

Instead, they agreed with parts of both the defence and the prosecution by deciding Jeffrey-Shaw knew Janet Muller was in the boot of his hired Volkswagen Jetta but thought her to be dead.

On the evening of March 12, when Miss Muller went missing from Mill View Hospital in Nevill Avenue, Hove, Jeffrey-Shaw was in Brighton working off a debt by helping a traveller who lent him money by selling drugs.

He was canvassing for customers.

At 1.38am on March 13, he was picked up travelling north on the A23 near Pyecombe.

He told the jury he was heading to Crawley and Croydon to pick up bags from three addresses given to him by the traveller, named as Steven.

Having picked up the bags, he returned to his mother's house in Beckenham, and fell asleep at about 7am.

Less than two hours later, he woke a number of messages from Steven asking about the bags, so he travelled to a house in Crawley to meet him, leaving at about 10am.

Arriving in Crawley, Steven answered the door and Jeffrey-Shaw was ushered inside.

There, he saw Janet Muller and two unknown men in the lounge.

They were laughing and taking drugs, acting like friends, Jeffrey-Shaw told the court.

Shortly after that, all four left in the car, and Jeffrey-Shaw was left in the house alone with a Jack Russell dog.

About 40 minutes later, he woke to the dog scratching at a door in the kitchen where Steven and one of the unknown men burst through, arguing and with blood on their clothes.

The unknown man told Jeffrey-Shaw the four of them had been involved in an armed robbery that had gone wrong and that the second unknown man told him Janet Muller and another accomplice had been shot.

Steven, it was claimed, then told Jeffrey-Shaw to burn the car as it had been seen driving away from the botched robbery.

Jeffrey-Shaw claims Steven and the unknown man beat Janet Muller up with a blunt object and put her in the boot of his hired Jetta, but the jury decided he knew she was in the boot, but thought she was dead having been shot in the robbery.

He drove to a Tesco petrol station in Hazlewick Avenue, Three Bridges, filled a Jerry can with £2.89 worth of petrol and placed it on the back seat of the car shortly after 1.34pm.

With Janet Muller in the boot of his car, he headed to Rusper Road in the Ifield area of Crawley and found a quiet lane which backs onto Ifield Golf Club.

He doused the car in petrol and torched it, with Miss Muller unbeknown to him, still alive in the boot at around 2.22pm on March 13.

After popping the boot and to get his bag, he noticed Janet Muller's body hanging out of the car.

He told the jury he desperately tried to pull her from the boot, but kept losing his grip of her arm as the raging fire blew smoke in his face and he eventually gave up.

She died of smoke inhalation.

Police have not been able to identify the man known as Steven.

Detective Superintendent Karen Mizzi, who led the investigation for Sussex Police, said: "I want to pay tribute to the bravery of Janet's family who have had to listen to the harrowing evidence in this case.

"The loss of a family member is always tragic, especially in these circumstances. This was a horrifying attack on a vulnerable young woman who had her whole life ahead of her."

Janet's family said in a statement issued via Sussex Police: "We are not happy that the verdict is manslaughter; not murder.

"We are glad that the man responsible for Janet's death will not walk free but nothing can erase the loss of Janet."

Jeffrey-Shaw will be sentenced on Friday.