A TEENAGER was strangled by her violent criminal boyfriend because "she knew too much," an inquest heard.

Vicki Reay, 19, was found dead in her home after Andrew Maguire, 34, approached a policeman and admitted to killing her.

The hearing was told he claimed he had been ordered to do it by another man because of the extent of Miss Reay's knowledge about his criminal past.

Days after her death Maguire was found hanged in Durham Prison, after being charged with her murder.

After the hearing in Hexham, Northumberland, where a verdict of unlawful killing was recorded, Miss Reay's mother said there were questions about her daughter's death that might never be answered now.

Joan Reay, 50, of Prudhoe, Northumberland, said she was satisfied with the verdict, but added: "There are more questions which I will never get answered because he's not here."

Miss Reay - who lived with Maguire in Priestlands Crescent, Hexham - was found dead after police forced their way into her house on October 17 last year.

The Halifax Bank employee had been strangled and bed sheets were wrapped around her neck.

The inquest heard that at 5.30pm that day Maguire left the house in a taxi and was taken to Newcastle.

An hour and 15 minutes later he flagged down a police car to tell them what he had done.

PC David Harbottle told South Northumberland coroner Eric Armstrong: "We had just pulled into a garage on Stamfordham Road, when I saw this man trying to get our attention.

"When he got to the car he said he had something to tell us and proceeded to say he had killed his girlfriend.

"When I asked him to repeat what he had said his reply was 'I have just murdered my girlfriend'.

"I handcuffed him and put him in the back of the car. He told us his name and when I asked him why he had killed her he said that his cousin had ordered it.

"I asked who his cousin was and why he had ordered him to do it.

"He said 'It's Tommy Maguire' and he said, 'she knows too much'."

Det Inspector Tim Walker, who led the investigation into the death, said Maguire made further reference to his cousin's involvement in his first interview.

He said: "These comments appeared to have been made without substance and we found no evidence to suggest that anyone else was involved."

A pathology report confirmed that Vicki had died of strangulation and added that she had a number of bruises on her body which suggested a struggle.

The coroner recorded a verdict of unlawful killing, saying it was not the duty of the inquest to determine blame.

Directing his comments at Vicki's mother, he said: "The verdict of unlawful killing does not attribute blame it just means that someone, without justification, took the life of your daughter."

Mrs Reay added later: "There is not one day goes by that I don't think about Vicki.

"I didn't agree or disagree with her relationship with Maguire, I just let her get on with it. You couldn't tell her what to do."

Miss Reay's cousin, Gemma Brown, 24, of Priestlands Drive, Hexham, added: "We weren't happy that she was with him towards the end of their relationship, but there was nothing we could do. She loved him and he was never going to let her go."