A man has been convicted of murdering his niece - who was also his lover - by smashing a TV over her head.

Now Christopher Wall, 58, is facing a lifetime behind bars for battering 25-year-old Hayley Wall to death last December. 

Miss Wall died in hospital nine days after she was found wandering around outside a supermarket with serious head injuries.

But before she slipped out of consciousness, she was able to tell emergency crews her name and address. 

She also told one of the paramedics who attended to her: 'My partner smashed a TV over the top of my head. When police visited her home they found signs of a disturbance on the second floor - including a door on the landing that was knocked off its frame. There were two long, dark hairs embedded in a crack halfway up the door as well as a number of blood spots.

Officers also found a damaged flat-screen TV at the bottom of the stairs leading to the second floor while blood-stained clothing, blood smears and blood staining was found in the en-suite bathroom.

Wall was asleep in the bed with what appeared to be stab or puncture wounds in his back as well as a cut to his hand.

An ambulance was called and he was treated for his injuries. He was arrested on suspicion of inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent and, after being treated in hospital, taken into custody. Hayley died as a result of her injuries in hospital in the early hours of December 22 last year.

A lodger who lived with the pair told police that on the evening of December 13 he heard them return home sometime after 7.50pm. They both appeared to have been drinking, he said. 

He later heard shouting - and Hayley crying as if she was in pain - before she appeared at his door with her head covered in blood. She then left the house.

She was later found by a group of students outside the Charminster Supermarket in Bournemouth.

When interviewed, Wall provided a prepared statement, claiming he was attacked by the woman with a pair of scissors and he had used reasonable force to defend himself.

He made no comment in two other interviews and refused to answer questions in relation to his relationship with his niece.

Neil Devoto, of Dorset Police's Major Crime Investigation Team, said: 'Christopher Wall's violent actions on that night have resulted in the tragic loss of a young woman's life.

'I hope the jury's verdict will bring some sense of comfort to Hayley's family.'

Wall, of Shelbourne Road, Bournemouth, was convicted today following a 12-day trial at Winchester Crown Court. He will be sentenced tomorrow.