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Pauline Richardson was a regular visitor to Tunisia
A coroner has returned a verdict of unlawful killing into the death of a County Durham grandmother in Tunisia.
Pauline Richardson, from Bishop Auckland, was found strangled in Port Al Kantaoui in June 2008.
The inquest in Chester-le-Street heard that the 64-year-old had been murdered by a Tunisian man with whom she had formed a relationship.
Qabeel Jabir Al-Wardini has admitted premeditated murder and been sentenced to life imprisonment.
Mrs Richardson, a widow, was a regular visitor to the country and at the time of her death was on holiday with friends.
The alarm was raised when she failed to turn up for a flight home, and her body was then discovered. She had been strangled and hit over the head.
Coroner Andrew Tweddle said: "It looked as if she had been the victim of what can only be described as an assault and a murder."
He said she "had some form of relationship" with Al-Wardini.
Detective Constable Dave Ripley, of Durham Police, said that it had been difficult establishing the progress of the criminal case.
He told the inquest: "Even today I have been in touch with colleagues from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and we are still waiting for written confirmation from Tunisia on sentencing.
"However, I have spoken to the solicitor representing the family of the deceased who has an agent out there and it is this agent who passed me the information that a guilty verdict was passed on this defendant.
"He received life imprisonment."
Mr Tweddle recorded a verdict of unlawful killing and apologised to Mrs Richardson's family for the length of time the inquest had taken to complete.
After her murder, daughter Beverley Sains said: "She was just so full of life and we are at a complete loss as to why this should have happened."
This article is from the BBC News website. ? British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Pauline Richardson was a regular visitor to Tunisia A coroner has returned a verdict of unlawful killing into the death of a County Durham grandmother in Tunisia.
Pauline Richardson, from Bishop Auckland, was found strangled in Port Al Kantaoui in June 2008.
The inquest in Chester-le-Street heard that the 64-year-old had been murdered by a Tunisian man with whom she had formed a relationship.
Qabeel Jabir Al-Wardini has admitted premeditated murder and been sentenced to life imprisonment.
Mrs Richardson, a widow, was a regular visitor to the country and at the time of her death was on holiday with friends.
The alarm was raised when she failed to turn up for a flight home, and her body was then discovered. She had been strangled and hit over the head.
Coroner Andrew Tweddle said: "It looked as if she had been the victim of what can only be described as an assault and a murder."
He said she "had some form of relationship" with Al-Wardini.
Detective Constable Dave Ripley, of Durham Police, said that it had been difficult establishing the progress of the criminal case.
He told the inquest: "Even today I have been in touch with colleagues from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and we are still waiting for written confirmation from Tunisia on sentencing.
"However, I have spoken to the solicitor representing the family of the deceased who has an agent out there and it is this agent who passed me the information that a guilty verdict was passed on this defendant.
"He received life imprisonment."
Mr Tweddle recorded a verdict of unlawful killing and apologised to Mrs Richardson's family for the length of time the inquest had taken to complete.
After her murder, daughter Beverley Sains said: "She was just so full of life and we are at a complete loss as to why this should have happened."
This article is from the BBC News website. ? British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.