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A pub chef and karate black belt who “had anger problems” has been found guilty of murdering his girlfriend by beating her to death at their home.

Jordan Matthews, 24, admitted manslaughter but denied intending to kill international student Xixi Bi or cause her really serious harm during the fatal assault in their Cardiff flat.

Opening the trial at Cardiff Crown Court prosecutor Paul Lewis QC said: “In essence we allege the defendant beat Ms Bi to death in her own home in a vicious, sustained, and prolonged attack.”

It took the jury a little over five hours to reach their verdict following a two-week trial in which they heard evidence from paramedics and police officers as well as neighbours and the victim’s friends and family.

(Image: WALES NEWS SERVICE)

Mr Lewis described Matthews as a “jealous”, “manipulative”, and “possessive” man.

The court heard emergency services were called to the incident in Ely Road in Llandaff at 8.30am on August 19 last year.

Paramedic Craig Dunn told the jury the casualty looked “very bruised and discoloured” and was not breathing, Wales Online reports.

(Image: WALES NEWS SERVICE)

He recalled Matthews told him: “I hit her around a bit but I didn’t punch her.”

The victim was rushed to the University Hospital of Wales in Heath where she was pronounced dead at 9.30am.

Pathologist Dr Derek James carried out a post-mortem examination that afternoon and found more than 40 injuries on the victim’s body.

(Image: WALES NEWS SERVICE)

He told the jury her body was more than one third covered in bruising and concluded a “severe” assault involving “dozens” of impacts had occurred.

Dr James concluded the cause of death was complications from extensive soft tissue injuries and blunt injuries to the head and body.

He told the jury the assault could have involved fists, knees, feet, and a “rod-like instrument”.

Police Constable Emma Bradley recalled Matthews said: “I had an argument with my girlfriend because she cheated on me. I pushed her on the sofa and punched her in the ribs.”

She arrested him on suspicion of attempted murder and later that day on suspicion of murder, observing he appeared to be “in shock”.

Neighbour Benjamin Webster said in the weeks before the fatal assault he heard a man’s voice calling a woman “you filthy whore”.

He also heard the man saying: “One day I’m going to kill you.”

(Image: WNS)

Shannon Pocknell, who lived in the flat above the couple, said in the weeks before Ms Bi’s death she heard a man repeating: “Why do you keep doing this?”

She told the court she heard “crying and whining” throughout the night of the incident, along with banging and thudding.

Ms Bi’s former boyfriend Jacob Harris described her as a happy, outgoing, and loyal person who made friends easily and was “full of life”.

The court heard she was born in China in April 1992 and moved to the UK with her brother to study when she was 15.

Her brother Zexun Bi described Ms Bi as an “energetic” person who was gifted at languages, speaking English, French, and Spanish.

He told the jury that during her relationship with Matthews his sister lost weight and he started noticing she was wearing “heavy make-up” on dark patches around her eyes.

Mr Bi said his sister told him three times that she wanted to break up with Matthews because he was “not a reliable guy”.

The victim’s friend Pin-Wen Chen said Ms Bi stayed with her one night last spring and woke up to 30 missed calls from her boyfriend, followed by an “angry” phone call.

She said she noticed her friend had black eyes, which she described as “scary”, and said Ms Bi told her of “cultural differences” within the relationship.

Another friend, Ivy Murria, said Ms Bi used to be against drug use but started smoking cannabis with her boyfriend.

She recalled her friend speaking of her boyfriend’s “anger problems” and how he could be “a bit controlling”.

Ms Murria told the court the couple were not equals and Ms Bi paid for everything including rent, food and clothes.

The court heard the couple met on dating site Plenty Of Fish and moved in together within two weeks.

They had an argument a few months before the fatal assault and Matthews sent his girlfriend a message saying: “Stop texting me you worthless piece of s***.”

Shareene Hallett, the fiance of Matthews’ brother, described Ms Bi as “beautiful inside and out”.

She said she confronted her about marks around her eyes and Ms Bi confided in her that Matthews had hit her but did not want to talk about it.

The court heard Ms Bi started studying for a BA in international hospitality and events at Cardiff Metropolitan University in 2012 before accepting a place on a masters course in 2015.

Lisa Wright, a senior lecturer at Cardiff School of Management, said Ms Bi regularly achieved 80% in her assignments and always engaged in class discussions.

But tutor Mark Sutcliffe said her work deteriorated throughout her masters year to the point she was told she would have to re-sit the year.

The court heard Matthews described the fatal assault as “a little bicker”.

He told police in his post-arrest interviews: “I just lost it. I punched her pretty, pretty hard.”

In the witness box Matthews said he did not intend to hit his girlfriend but just wanted to “scare her”.

In his closing speech, defence barrister Christopher Henley QC said: “He behaved disgracefully, callously, violently, but he didn’t want her to die.”

Mrs Justice Nicola Davies adjourned the case and Matthews will be sentenced for murder on Monday.