LISTEN: 24 year prison sentence for Gordon Semple's killer
Justice after Inverness-born police officer murdered in London
A Breaking Bad fan has been jailed for life for strangling a London police officer and then attempting to dispose of his body.
Stefano Brizzi, 50, admitted he was inspired by his favourite TV series as he tried to get away with killing 59-year-old PC Gordon Semple (pictured above), who was born in Inverness.
Last month, the former Morgan Stanley IT developer was found guilty of murder by a majority of 10 to two after a jury at the Old Bailey had deliberated for more than 30 hours.
It's after the pair met on dating app Grindr.
Judge Nicholas Hilliard QC handed crystal meth addict Brizzi life in prison with a minimum of 24 years.
Brizzi was also sentenced to seven years for obstructing a coroner, which will run concurrently.
The judge said there were `terrible features'' of the case and that Brizzi's drug addiction had ruined his life.
He told the Italian: "Regret you express now for Mr Semple's death has to be seen against what you did over a number of days to his body."
The defendant sat in the dock with his head bowed throughout the hearing.
Chief Crown Prosecutor for London Baljit Ubhey said: "Stefano Brizzi learned today that he will remain in prison for the next 24 years for the horrific crimes he committed.
Chief Crown Prosecutor for London Baljit Ubhey said: "Stefano Brizzi learned today that he will remain in prison for the next 24 years for the horrific crimes he committed.
"An evil and calculating man, Brizzi lied to the police and then to the court, claiming that Mr Semple's tragic death was caused when a sex game went horribly wrong.
"We know this will have been a very difficult time for the family and friends of Mr Semple. I hope the outcome today provides some comfort to them."
Paying tribute to how her team dealt with the "challenging" case, she said: "They had to sift through many thousands of social media messages and piece together the events of that evening, which was difficult bearing in mind the lengths that Brizzi went to remove traces of his crime and cover his tracks."
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