'I don't deserve to live'

His crime of passion left two children without a mother and a father behind bars for six years.

Parnham, who bludgeoned his wife to death after exposing her affair with a fellow teacher, told police: "I am not human. I don't deserve to live."

It was the love triangle between art and design teacher Parnham, maths teacher Jillian and maths teacher Chris Worth, who all worked at the all-girl secondary Millais School in Horsham, which triggered the tragedy.

Suspicious of his wife's affair, Parnham was driven to search her bag on March 5, last year.

He discovered the condoms and contraceptive pills which confirmed his worst fears and drove him to a "moment of madness".

In a vicious argument, he discovered "the wife he adored" had being having an affair with Mr Worth, sharing a passion for music and exchanging love gifts.

He told Lewes Crown Court his wife had said to him: "He's a true Scorpio, a real man, nothing like you. You are a pathetic boy."

He said he had called Jillian a tart and sworn he would fight her for custody of their sons.

The 37-year-old insisted his wife attacked him with the metal bar he claimed he brought home for an art project.

Then he turned on her.

He said: "I snatched it off her and hit her. I was just lashing out and just hitting her on the head.

"I was just hitting and hitting her. I remember seeing blood fall on the carpet and I was hitting her and then I don't remember anything else. I just went mad.

"The next thing I knew she was lying on the floor and I was kneeling by her and the bar was in my hand. I couldn't believe it.

"There was blood everywhere and I listened and she wasn't breathing and her head was a mess. I knew she was dead and I didn't know what to do."

A friend said: "None of us ever dreamt he was capable of such violence. But obviously something snapped that night.

"In that split second, we lost two good friends. Jillian was dead and Mark was destroyed."

Parnham, born in Nottingham to Gary and Patricia in 1964, met Jillian a month after taking up a post as an art and graphics teacher at Millais School in September 1987.

He had come to the school following a short stint doing work experience at Marvel Comics and a year of teacher training.

He attended school in Nottingham, moved to Mansfield where he studied art, design and graphics at college and then gained a degree in graphic design at Leicester Polytechnic.

When he moved to Millais and met Jillian it was "love at first sight", according to colleagues.

Assistant headteacher Shirley Mitchell said: "The first time they met, Jillian and I were gossiping at an open evening and he brushed past and straight away asked her out."

The whirlwind romance blossomed and in the January they moved in together, becoming engaged eight months later.

They married on March 25 the following year at Horsham register office.

Parnham was delighted when Jillian gave birth to the first of their two sons and the family moved into a new house in Millmead, Ashington, near Storrington.

Both teachers were well liked and successful at Millais. Mrs Mitchell described Jillian as a hard working member of staff, who always wanted to get things right.

Parnham was described as "very committed and very caring".

Mrs Mitchell said: "The girls adored him. They loved him. It is a very high-achieving school and Mark loved teaching."

Former history teacher, Gary Terretta, now a deputy head teacher at a primary school in London, said Parnham had been popular.

He said: "He always had time for pupils, doing extra-curricular activities and helping children at lunchtime.

"I never saw Mark shout at a pupil, nor tell them off in a severe way. He was very calm and reasonable.

"He certainly was happy to be married and have children and I know they were a joy to him."

Mr Terretta told how, in 1992, his own marriage broke up and Parnham helped him through the emotional stress.

He said: "He gave me a lot of personal counselling. He would take me out for drinks after school.

"I just knew I could rely on him for his support and I really appreciated that."

For a number of years Parnham wrote the school Christmas pantomime and often took on lively roles in the shows which, according to a colleague, he played "with gusto".

It was a band formed to play in one of the shows which set in motion the affair between Jillian and Mr Worth.

Mr Worth, 47, who resigned as soon as he heard of his lover's death, joined the school in September 1999.

He and Jillian played in the school band together and shared a passion for music.

Mr Worth, of Little Breach, Chichester, spent many hours with Jillian in her teaching room, playing songs and practising the guitar.

Twice Parnham caught them alone together but Mr Worth was not deterred.

The clandestine relationship flourished, with Mr Worth making his lover a tape of love songs.

One track, Baby When You're Gone by Bryan Adams, became their song and they would often play it together, along with Thorn In My Side by Annie Lennox - to represent Parnham.

On St Valentine's Day, she gave him a teddy bear. The day after, they made love for the first time.

Mr Worth told the court this week Jillian had described her husband to him as a "third child".

He said she had been getting close to telling her husband about the affair.

Parnham's suspicions were aroused after he found one of the tapes of love songs. He told the court when confronted, Jillian insisted she was not having an affair, calling him "paranoid" and "schizo".

It was only after finding the condoms and contraceptive pill, his worst fears were confirmed.

Parnham said: "You feel like screaming. You know at that point you have been betrayed. I knew she had been lying all the time.

"It was devastating. It feels like your heart is ripped out."

It was then he took the metal bar from his wife, battering her to death.

Initially, the father lied to police, dialling 999 and claiming his wife had been attacked in a violent burglary.

He was taken to hospital but was arrested in the ambulance and later confessed to the killing.

This week, he told his story to the jury at Lewes Crown Court. They had to decide if he had intended to kill his wife in a fit of jealous rage, after brooding over the affair for weeks or if he had acted in self defence or been provoked.

They heard evidence from doctors of how Jillian had put up a "spirited defence".

Dr Ian Hill said: "The large numbers of injuries on the hands and arms would indicate it was quite a fierce fight.

"The appearance of the injuries and the two fractures of the skull suggests a severe amount of force was used."

He suggested it was the cumulative effect of all the blows which had killed Jillian and he confirmed he had found 73 external injuries on her body, consistent with at least 30 blows.