Jelle Rijpma has been sentenced to 30 years in prison after admitting the murder of his ex-girlfriend Shannon Mak in 2018.

Mak was found in a pool of blood with her throat slit in an alley in Santa Venera in August 2018.

Her ex-boyfriend Jelle Rijpma pleaded guilty to the murder and was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Wednesday after plea bargaining.

He was also fined €116.47 for possessing a knife.

Mak was found dead, lying on the side of the road with her throat slit between two parked cars with evident injuries in Triq il-Mastrudaxxi at 6.20am on 3 August 2018.

She had been seen in Qawra at an event organised by the gaming company she worked with at the time a few hours earlier.

Throughout proceedings, the courts heard how Mak had suffered bruising to her face and other parts of the body, compatible with a beating.

"All involved some degree of force," medico-legal expert Dr. Mario Scerri said in court. "There was pushing, pulling, kicking, possibly even hitting against a wall," he said.

Rijpma had initially pleaded not guilty to the charges, but changed his plea to that of guilty last October, prompting the case to move for sentencing.