CARL Mills, 28, showed no emotion as the jury read out three guilty verdicts in court convicting him of the murder of Kayleigh Buckley, 17, their daughter Kimberley Buckley, six months, and Kayleigh’s mum Kim Buckley, 46.

They all died when a fire started by Mills ripped through their home at 15, Tillsland, Coed Eva, during the early hours of September 18 last year.

Prior to this, Mills, of no fixed abode, had sent threatening messages to both Kim and Kayleigh Buckley including threats to kill and to burn the house down.

After a three-week trial at Newport Crown Court, the jury took just four and a half hours in the jury room to reach the verdicts.

Family and friends of the victims hugged and cried in the public gallery as the verdicts were read out and Mills was sentenced.

Sentencing him, Judge Mr Justice Wyn Williams said the defendant had “condemned Kim and Kayleigh in particular to a terrifying and agonising death”.

He imposed a life sentence for each of the three murder counts with the minimum term of 30 years, but said a minimum term “means just that” and that this was not to say Mills will ever be released.

He said Mills had set fire to 15, Tillsland, in the middle of the night knowing that Kim, Kayleigh and baby Kimberley would very likely be upstairs and asleep.

He added that he was satisfied that Mills must have known that once the fire took hold, there would be virtually no chance of their escape.

He said: “You condemned Kim and Kayleigh in particular to a terrifying and agonising death. Kim, Kayleigh and Kimberley were part of a long, loving and extended family.

“A family that had already suffered tragedy, very significant tragedy.

“As is clear, your crimes have devastated this family.

You have shown no remorse.

Your sole concern has been to avoid responsibility.”

Mr Justice Williams said this had even gone as far as Mills suggesting in his evidence that Kayleigh may have started the fire which he described as “despicable”.

During the trial, the court had heard how Mills had formed a relationship with Kayleigh Buckley after meeting her on social media site Facebook in August 2010.

Originally from Bolton in Manchester, he had travelled to Cwmbran to see Kayleigh before moving down permanently in July/August 2011.

Mills was described as “controlling” and “possessive”

in court and the jury were told Kayleigh had become “infatuated” by him and had started playing truant from school to be with him. She also lost contact with her friends.

Kim Buckley tried to split the pair up, but this did not work.

Kayleigh fell pregnant with twins to Mills but went into premature labour.

Baby Angel was stillborn while Kimberley, born in March 2012, spent six months in hospital fighting health problems, including a heart defect and breathing difficulties.

Kimberley had finally returned home the day before the fire.

The court heard that Mills, who admitted to having a drink problem, had turned up drunk to the hospital which had led to him only being allowed supervised access to the baby.

When allowed to stay at the Buckley home one night in August last year, he had cut electric wires to the television and a fish tank. From that point, he wasn’t allowed inside and had been sleeping in a tent outside the home.

In the weeks leading up to the fire, Mills had sent threatening messages to Kayleigh Buckley including one telling her he was going to go on “a murder mission”

In the night leading up to the fire, he also sent a number of abusive text messages which suggested he wrongly thought Kayleigh had another man in the house and had told her, he hoped she got burnt.

The court also heard he had sent threatening messages to Kim Buckley saying that he was going to burn her house down and “cut her up”.

Immediately after the fire, while neighbours bravely tried to rescue the family, witnesses described seeing Mills in the area appearing calm. Police said Mills had also told them at one point that the victims were in another house.

Mills, who at one point was asked to stop laughing while he was giving evidence, told the court he had been sat on a wall outside the Mill Tavern pub at the time of the fire.

He said he had only noticed the blaze when he heard screaming coming from the area.

After sitting in court for three weeks and listening to all the evidence, Mr Justice Williams praised family and friends for behaving with dignity throughout the trial.

He also told jury members they would be excused from doing any more jury service in the future if they so wished.