After reading the ruling, the trial judge turned to Miguel Silva, 38, calling the crime "hideous" and "incomprehensible", even though the court did not sentence the defendant to the maximum possible sentence of 25 years.

"It could be 25 years, we decided not, but whether 25 or 19, nothing will erase what you did," she said, adding that the crime Silva committed had destroyed a number of lives, including his own.

According to the court, the death by suffocation of Regina Nunes, 21, was "particularly lengthy" for the victim, making her aware of "her imminent death" as she was conscious.

The court also sentenced the defendant to pay compensation of €50,000 to the victim's mother.

In September 2016 Silva barricaded himself in the apartment where he andNunes lived with someone else, threatening to throw himself off the 7th floor balcony. After she refused to have sex with him Silva raped and then strangled her with an electrical cord.

The man kept his girlfriend's body in the bedrooom for more than 24 hours and left the apartment on two occasions after the crime.