The family of a young mother murdered by her husband have spoken of their heartbreak and anger.

The body of Johanna Croxton, 21, was found strangled in the loft of her family home on Plynlimmon Road, Hastings, on December 7 last year, one week after work colleagues at the Child Support Agency in Hastings, reported her missing.

Her husband of 16 months, Jonathan Croxton, 25, was arrested for her murder and on October 4 at Lewes Crown Court he was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Their two-year-old daughter has lost both parents and is now living with Croxton's parents in Eastbourne.

For Johanna's family the past ten months have been devastating as they try to come to terms with her death and revelations in court that she was in an abusive relationship.

Her mother Estelle Phillips, 45, from Whitstable, said: "I didn't know he was abusive.

"I haven't seen my granddaughter since it happened. She looks like him and, although it's not her fault, it would be too hard at this stage.

"I don't ever want to see him again.

"I don't know where my granddaughter will live but whoever she lives with will have to let him visit when he is released and I can't do that. I don't know how to cope with this. She had so much more to offer."

Johanna's dad, Chris Phillips, said months before the murder, Johanna left Croxton because she was unhappy. But he pestered her constantly and she went back to him for their daughter's sake.

His wife Jackie, 42, had seen bruises on Johanna's arm and she admitted Croxton had hit her on the mouth once, but said it was an accident.

Mr Phillips, 52, from Croydon, said: "A few months before it happened she said to me if she went missing we might never find her. I think she knew she was in danger.

"The night she was murdered she told me on the phone they were splitting up.

"When the verdict was announced I felt a rush of air leave my body. In a few seconds I felt every emotion. Finally it was over.

"But it will never be over. Sometimes I think I should have done more. I shouldn't have let her go back to him. But she loved him. She told me she loved him."