By 3 News online staff
The parents of convicted murderer Elliot Turner have been sentenced to terms of 27 months each at the Winchester Crown Court in England.
At least half of that time will be spent behind bars before they are eligible for any kind of release.
Turner, 20, was sentenced in May to at least 16 years imprisonment for killing his New Zealand girlfriend Emily Longley at his parents' home in May 2011.
His parents Leigh and Anita Turner were found guilty of destroying and hiding evidence in relation to Ms Longley’s death.
The sentences given to the pair were higher than average in the UK for the charge of perverting the course of justice.
But at the sentencing today the judge said that the pair’s crimes were at the more serious end of offending because they were covering up a murder.
The judge also said the parents never showed remorse or regret, and that the only mitigating factor was that they have another son who will now have to be put into foster care.
Ms Longley’s grandfather spoke outside the court today, and described the sentencing as a sort of conclusion to “a dreadful year”.
Ms Longley’s father Mark Longley told 3 News the sentence handed down to Turner’s parents was lighter than he had expected, but that he feels justice has finally been served.
3 News