RAZZELL VERDICT: GLYN Razzell always maintained his innocence in anything to do with the disappearance or death of his estranged wife Linda. Today he is starting a life sentence after being found guilty of her murder.

In February a month before Linda, the mother of his four children, vanished unexpectedly he appeared at Swindon Crown Court charged with unlawful wounding after it was alleged he smashed his wife's head repeatedly against a glass window at their Pentylands Close home in May 2001. He denied the charge, claimed she lost her footing and was acquitted.

In court then, Linda told how she and Glyn were going through an acrimonious divorce when the alleged attack took place, which left her with cuts to the head. At the time the pair had been living apart for nine months.

The jury took two hours to find him not guilty of the wounding.

After the hearing Razzell, who maintained his innocence throughout, said: "I'm relieved the court took the time to examine the evidence so thoroughly and the truth came out at last. It has taken me nine months to clear my name.

"I don't believe domestic violence is acceptable. I also think that no allegation should be treated softly by the police."

Almost exactly a month later on Tuesday, March 19, Linda, 41, a part-time learning support assistant at Swindon College, vanished.

After dropping her children at school and her boyfriend, Greg Worrall, in Highworth she drove her normal route to work in Swindon and parked her red L-registered Ford Escort, as usual, in Alvescot Road in Old Walcot.

The jury believed the prosecution's claim that Razzell abducted Linda and placed her, either dead or dying, in the boot of a car on loan for the day from a friend in a cold and calculated attack.

Razzell's two friends, Christopher Willett and William Sutcliffe, had borrowed Razzell's Ford Galaxy for a booze cruise to Calais while Sutcliffe lent Razzell his silver Renault Laguna.

Since that day there has been no trace of Linda, except the recovery of her mobile phone from the alleyway linking Alvescot Road to Upham Road.

Linda was a fluent French speaker and Razzell claimed she might have run off to the continent.

But she had no spare clothes and her passport and driving licence were later found at her home.

Since her disappearance no transactions have been made from her bank account, she has failed to contact her children or family and has not been in touch with the Inland Revenue, DVLA, DSS or any hire car outlets.

And searches on the national police database have proved fruitless.

Immediately after Linda's disappearance her cousin, Julie Westmore, left her home in Llanybydder in Wales to look after the four children, Catherine, Matthew, Emma and Robin.

On April 13 last year Linda's children made a heart-rending birthday card to mark their mother's 42nd birthday, which said 'Mum, we love you. Come home safely' but she has not.

Detectives quizzed Razzell on numerous occasions during an exhaustive investigation, which included door-to-door inquiries, the distribution of thousands of posters, the release of CCTV footage and a reconstruction of her last known movements.

They even dug up his patio, conjuring up chilling parallels with serial killer Fred West, who buried his victims at his home.

Police frogmen searched lakes and officers conducted searches of open spaces across the borough in the hope of finding a lead in the hunt for Linda.

Razzell, who was living in rented accommodation in Meadow Road at the time of Linda's disappearance, even joined her family, including her brother Graham Davies and boy-friend Greg Worrall, to appeal for her safe return.

He first appeared at Swindon Magistrates' Court charged with murder on May 17 last year. He sat smartly dressed and motionless during the ten-minute hearing and only spoke to confirm his name and address.

Later that month police released a photofit of a man believed to have been in the area of Meadow Road and Pasture Close on the afternoon Linda went missing, but that failed to produce any new leads.

On September 20 last year Razzell, 44, a former investment market manager with Swindon-based Zurich Financial Services, again reiterated his innocence when he appeared at Bristol Crown Court to plea.

At the hearing he was granted bail, but had to surrender his passport, live and sleep at an address in Crewkerne in Somerset and report to the police daily.