THE husband of Saints steward Paula Poolton has spoken about how he hopes that one day he will be able to forgive her affair but that he could never forgive the man who brutally murdered her.

As her killer, Roger Kearney, was sentenced to life in prison, Ricky Poolton told of the hell he had been through since his wife’s death 19 months ago.

Yesterday, Kearney stood motionless in the dock at the Royal Courts of Justice as Mr Justice Silber sentenced him to a minimum of 15 years behind bars for the murder of 40-year-old Paula.

Last week a jury unanimously found the 57-year-old guilty of stabbing his secret lover of three months and dumping her body in the boot of her car, in Duncan Road, where she lay undiscovered for 11 days in October 2008.

Outside court Paula’s builder husband Ricky, who lived with Paula in their first floor maisonette in Course Park Crescent, Titchfield, told the Daily Echo: “I’ve got some wonderful memories of Paula. The good times we had far outweigh the bad.

In time I will forgive the affair but I will never ever forgive him.

“The whole 19 months has been hell. First off being accused of Paula’s murder.

“Then one of the things that hurt the most was the defence saying I had motive to kill Paula.

Justice has been done for Paula.”

In court Mr Justice Silber said he was satisfied that Kearney, of Panswick Close, Sarisbury Green, had made the decision to kill Paula hours before they met in Duncan Road, following a heated telephone call during which he told her he couldn’t see her the following week.

He said: “I am satisfied Paula Poolton was quite angry to hear this and it seems entirely likely that she threatened that she would destroy your relationship with Carol Goddard.

“I am satisfied you were determined not to give up this comfortable lifestyle.”

The court also heard a moving statement from Paula’s parents, Phillip and Jenny Cross, who spoke about how they are haunted by the manner in which their 40-year-old daughter died, leaving Mrs Cross with continuing nightmares about Paula’s dying moments.

The statement read out on behalf of Mr Cross, read: “Never a day goes by when Jenny and I don’t think about what has happened.

“It’s just always on our minds. Jenny suffered terrible nightmares. She wonders whether Paula was calling out for her when she died.