Russell Yeates “was a coward who cheated us of our right to see justice done”. That was the view of Debbie Smith’s family after Yeates’s murder trial collapsed at Oxford Crown Court.

Speaking outside court, Ms Smith’s parents Mavis and Gerald Wiffen, of Chestnut Road, Botley, Oxford, spoke of their shock.

Mrs Wiffen said: “I do not think he had any way out — the evidence was so strong.

“We were shocked, but it was not a sympathetic feeling. He was due to hear about all the injuries he had caused her.

“There would have been no doubt to his family and friends that he very much did all of those crimes.”

Mrs Wiffen said the family felt robbed of their chance to see justice done.

She said: “There is no doubt in our minds that he did it, but maybe there is in other people’s minds. I have felt hatred for him from day one.”

Mr Wiffen, 74, said: “We feel cheated. I am angry. He obviously just could not see a way out and he felt he just could not spend the rest of his life in prison.

“We did not really like him from the start. We are quite family-oriented people, but he never wanted to be in our company.”

Ms Smith’s sister-in-law Deborah Wiffen, 41, of Witney, said: “He is an evil man and very cowardly. We cannot believe what he has put us through.”

The family also paid tribute to their “outgoing and generous” daughter who loved horses and adored her son Harry.

Mrs Wiffen said: “She was a loving, outgoing and very generous daughter. She liked horses right from when she was a little girl. She was a good mum and she adored her son.”

Ms Smith was born in Drayton, near Abingdon, and brought up in nearby West Hanney before going to secondary school in Wantage.

After leaving school she worked looking after horses in both Wales and Italy before returning to Oxford and working in Debenhams and Marks & Spencer.

The family said Ms Smith was always a glamorous woman who was often told she looked like Diana, Princess of Wales.

Mrs Wiffen said: “The greatest loss is your future, all the things that any family hopes for and expects are completely smashed.

“There will be no daughter for us to talk to in our old age. At a stroke all this has been removed.”

Her brother Gary Wiffen, 50, from Witney, said: “She was very popular. She was the most caring, generous and loving person you could ever wish to meet.

“The day we learned of her death was truly the worst day of our lives. I think about Deb every day — and most of the day — and of the horrific way her life ended.”

Her ex-husband Martin Smith, 50, landlord of the Bat and Ball pub in Cuddesdon, near Oxford, said their son Harry, 13, meant everything to his former wife.

He said: “She thought the world of him. He is quite strong. He knows what is going on. We haven’t sheltered him and he is showing true character like his mother.”

The family added they wanted to thank the police for their support.

esimmonds@oxfordmail.co.uk