An evil girlfriend who encouraged her boyfriend to kill himself in a car park must go to prison, an appeal court ruled.

Michelle Carter, now 22, was just 17 when she bombarded Conrad Roy, 18, with text messages that prosecutors say led to his suicide.

She wrote: "You're finally going to be happy in heaven. No more pain. It's okay to be scared and it's normal.

"I mean, you're about to die. I thought you wanted to do this. The time is right and you're ready - just do it babe."

She was convicted of manslaughter and jailed for two-and-a-half years in 2017 - and ordered to serve at least 15 months of it.

But she remained free while the appeal process ran its course.

Now, however, Massachusetts' top court has upheld the conviction, meaning Carter must go to jail.

(Image: Rex Features)

(Image: Rex Features)

Mr Roy killed himself in a car park about 60 miles south of Boston in 2014.

He filled his parked truck with carbon monoxide from a generator he had hooked up to it.

Carter's 2017 trial highlighted the dangers of cyber-bullying and raised concerns among civil liberties advocates who argued the judge overreached by finding Carter guilty for her speech.

(Image: Facebook/justiceforconradroy)

(Image: Facebook)

Her lawyers called the case unprecedented in the United States.

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Prosecutors at trial presented evidence showing that Roy briefly left the vehicle after he began to be overwhelmed by the fumes but returned after Carter urged him to "get back in".

Carter opted against a jury trial, leaving her fate in the hands of Judge Lawrence Moniz, who found her guilty of involuntary manslaughter.

(Image: Rex Features)

(Image: Getty)

Justice Scott Kafker, who heard her appeal, wrote that the evidence presented at trial was sufficient to support her conviction.

He said her arguments that her texts to Roy were protected by America's free speech laws "lack merit".

"The evidence against the defendant proved that, by her wanton or reckless conduct, she caused the victim's death by suicide," Kafker wrote for the unanimous seven-member court.