A ROWLEY Regis man has been found guilty of murdering his ex-partner because she denied him access to their baby daughter.

The jury took under 80 minutes to find David Palmer guilty of murdering mum of one Kerry Smith at Wolverhampton Crown Court today.

Palmer stabbed the 29-year-old in a frenzied attack outside the Malt Shovel pub in High Street, Blackheath.

The 40-year-old, of Mincing Lane, had admitted manslaughter but denied murdering Miss Smith who was stabbed three times in the attack in broad daylight on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

The six-man six-woman jury rejected this argument and returned a unanimous guilty verdict today.

Palmer will be sentenced by Judge John Warner later this afternoon.

Wolverhampton Crown Court heard Palmer "terrorised" Kerry Smith and subjected her to regular beatings during their two year on-and-off relationship.

Alan Kent QC prosecuting told the court Palmer, who was the subject of an order at the time to stay away from his former partner, lay in wait for her near the public house.

She had expressed fears in a letter written just days earlier that one day he would kill her and that day came in July last year, said Mr Kent.

Miss Smith had told him he could not see their daughter Samantha because of all the problems he had caused but he confronted her in breach of bail conditions.

He stabbed her to death because he wanted her mother to know just what it was like having to live without a daughter before fleeing from the scene.