A JILTED lover who stalked his ex-girlfriend has been found guilty of murdering her after she ended their relationship.

The jury took just two hours and 20 minutes to find Michael Lane guilty of slitting Shana Grice’s throat and setting her room on fire on August 25 last year.

Lane, 27, of Thornhill Rise, Portslade, repeatedly denied killing his 19-year-old former girlfriend at her Chrisdory Road home.

But the trial heard how he lied time and time again to police and changed his story to cover up the crime.

He even tried to hide trainers covered in her blood in a field but was recognised by a member of the public who had seen his face in press reports about the murder and told police.

Lane even donned a disguise after the murder to draw money he claimed Miss Grice owed him out of her account using her bank card and pin number.

The jury delivered a unanimous verdict to huge cheers from member of Miss Grice's family and friends in the public gallery.

The decision brought members of the Grice family to tears.

Lane shut his eyes, looked up at the ceiling and down at the ground as the result was delivered.

Lane will be sentenced tomorrow (Thursday).

Following the verdict, the Grice family issued a victim impact statement in which they said her murder could have been prevented if her fears had been listened to and taken seriously by the police.

Sussex Police in turn issued an apology to the Grice family after they said they "may not have done the very best we could" over the whole affair.

In a statement, temporary Detective Chief Inspector Gordon Denslow of Sussex Police said: "This was a shocking and brutal crime and, on behalf of the Sussex Police and our Family Liaison Officers, our thoughts are with Shana's family.

"Our investigation found that Michael Lane had become obsessed with Shana and that their relationship was a complex one.

"By Tuesday 23 August, Shana had decided she wanted to be with her boyfriend and not Lane. She met Lane and they agreed to go their separate ways. However, this ended in tragedy.

"Two days later, Lane went to Shana's address early in the morning at a time when he knew she would be alone in the house. He killed Shana by cutting her throat. He left straight away to provide himself with an alibi and stole money from Shana’s bank account. He then returned to the address to set light to Shana’s room in an attempt to destroy evidence of his crime. 

"After his arrest, Lane repeatedly denied going to Shana’s home on the morning of her murder. However, in the face of mounting evidence suggesting otherwise, presented to him during hours of police interviews, he eventually admitted that he had been there, claiming that after finding Shana already dead, he panicked and left without telling a soul about what he had seen.

"Clearly the jury did not believe him.”

The Independent Police Complaints Commission said that it has begun a probe into Sussex Police's handling of the case and have identified 12 force employees as subjects of their investigation.