A Solihull father who stabbed his teenage daughter to death and then drove her dead body around for 10 hours has been found guilty of murder.

Gary Fisher, 48, insisted he had killed Chanelle Sasha Jones, 17, as part of a suicide pact.

Fisher refused to give evidence in his own defence but had claimed his daughter wanted to die because she had been raped.

The brutal stabbing happened in a secluded pub car park in Aberaeron, near her home town of Cardigan, West Wales, in August last year.

Fisher admitted manslaughter but claimed it was not murder, using the failed suicide pact as a partial defence.

A jury at Swansea Crown Court took just one hour to reject his version of events and find him guilty of murder.

The judge, Mr Justice Lloyd Jones, told the jury that he did not intend to sentence Fisher immediately.

Speaking to the defendant, he said: "Gary Fisher, you have been found guilty of murder.

"By law there is only one sentence for murder and in due course you will be sentenced to imprisonment for life."

He said that, at a future sentencing hearing, he would set the minimum jail term Fisher will have to serve before being eligible for parole.

Fisher stood emotionless and immobile as the jury delivered its verdict. He was taken away after the judge's comments.

Jayne Jones, the teenager's mother and Fisher's former partner, dismissed his claim that he had killed their daughter as part of a suicide pact as "idiotic".

She said her daughter was recovering from the rape ordeal and they had planned to buy a house together and she wanted to get back with her boyfriend.

The emotional statement was read out by a police officer on her behalf on the steps of the courthouse after the verdict.

In it, she goes on to insist that she was not seeking revenge and wished Fisher no harm.

"No innocent person anywhere should have their life taken by another or have to go through extreme fear," she said. "We cannot live forever, but no life should end with this suffering.

"As I am not a person who seeks revenge, I wish Gary Fisher no harm but I do feel that he should be locked up for a long time.

"My daughter was beautiful and I love her as I do my other children. Things have previously been tough since she had been raped; however, she had started to come out of all of that and she wanted to get back with her boyfriend Brian and wanted to buy a house.

"We had become good friends and I just wanted to be there for her. Gary Fisher has put us all through this, not only myself but my other children and family.

"He seems to have no remorse by claiming this was an idiotic attempt at a suicide pact."

The statement adds: "My children are now sadly in fear of their own father and it haunts me, and always will, as to how petrifying and frightening those last awful hours must have been for my Chanelle.

"We all feel totally devastated and in total shock by this awful tragedy and how completely this has shattered our lives.

"My beautiful daughter, Chanelle Sasha, is missed more and more as time goes by and words cannot really describe the awful deep feelings we are experiencing."

Fisher had been estranged from his three children but re-established contact with them five years before the murder.

When he killed his daughter in August last year, he had been in West Wales for more than a week, organising camping trips and taking them on visits.

The jury heard that Fisher drove his daughter to the car park of the Angel Inn in Cardigan in his Ford Fiesta and stabbed her to death.

She suffered a total of 22 wounds, including defensive injuries to her hands, chest and head.

He told police that she struggled when he surprised her in the passenger seat of his car with a knife.

Later he refused to comment during formal interviews with a defence barrister present.

Detective Sergeant Stephen Davies, of Dyfed Powys Police, read out a brief statement welcoming the verdict today.

"Sasha Jones' life was brought to an early tragic end by her own father in August 2009," he said. "Dyfed Powys Police hope that today's verdict will start to bring some closure for the family and help them come to terms with this awful tragedy.

"After killing Sasha Jones, Gary Fisher drove her body around the Dyfed Powys Police area for approximately 10 hours before being forcibly stopped by police in Aberaeron, Ceredigion.

"Dyfed Powys Police used the latest technology to track Fisher's movements and bring him to justice.

"Specially trained officers, including family liaison officers, have been deployed with regards to this investigation. Our thoughts are with Sasha's family at this most tragic time."