Samantha (left) and Sarah Mills-Westley (right), daughters of beheaded grandmother Jennifer Mills-Westley, outside the Provincial Court in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Monday February 18, 2013.

Beheading victim Jennifer Mills-Westley was a woman “with so much love in her heart” her family said today, as a Bulgarian drug addict was convicted or her murder.

Peter Walsh visits Tenerife to cover the trial of Jennifer Mills-Westley's murder. Pictured: View looking down street towards Chinese shop.

Her youngest daughter Samantha Mills-Westley, 39, who lives in the Midi-Pyrenees region of France, wore sunglasses and cried before going into court.

Joining her were her sister Sarah Mills-Westley, 43, from Norwich, her partner Brian Moore, 41, the victim’s brother John Smith, 63, and sister-in-law, Julie Smith, 62.

Here follows a statement from the victim’s daughters.

“Since May 13 2011, Jennifer Mills-Westley has become known as the lady who was beheaded in Tenerife.

“The truth is she was our mum, our mentor and our best friend.

“She was a highly gifted, selfless person with so much love in her heart and who has been taken away from us in her prime.

“It’s hard to put into words the devastating impact that this preventable and needless act has had on us as a family; sadly mum was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“We would like to thank the jury for having the courage to sit through this trial.

“But while today sees the conclusion of the legal process, lessons must be learnt from this tragic event to ensure justice is done for our mum and to ensure that no other family has to be subjected to this ordeal.

“It is clear to us that there has been a catalogue of failings; unfortunately it is now left to us to piece these together as we still have so many unanswered questions.

“We would like to make a plea that the care of people like Deyan Valentinov Deyanov is taken more seriously.

“He is a young man who has clearly been failed by a number of authorities, in the UK, Spain and most likely others.

“This week has been incredibly hard on us and has reiterated the horror of mum’s death.

“We have had to listen to graphic descriptions of what happened to her.

“However, we would like to make it clear that, contrary to a number of speculations in the media, we thankfully did not watch the CCTV footage.

“Words alone cannot express our thanks to the support provided by Victim Support and the Lucie Blackman Trust - Missing Abroad.

“However, despite our expectations, we have been disappointed by the lack of any other support; notably the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and our mum’s MP in her hometown of Norfolk.

“Whilst today closes one chapter we will have to live with the painful consequences for the rest of our lives.

“We ask that we are now granted privacy after an extremely difficult and emotional week.”

See tomorrow’s paper for a four-page special on the case and its background.