Millionaire architect Michael Morton was jailed for seven years at the Old Bailey this week after he was found responsible for the death of his wife.

Morton, 67, was cleared of murder but found guilty of manslaughter after his Argentine wife Gracia disappeared more than eight years ago.

Judge Jeremy Roberts said that Morton had lashed out in a “sudden flare-up” during a row over the schooling of their daughter.

The architect, who had been married twice before, is alleged to have hid his wife’s body and has refused to divulge its whereabouts. The judge said that by doing this he had put her family through “years of agonising as to what had happened to her”.

The row started because Morton’s wife, who was 19 years younger than him, wanted their four-year old child to attend private school, while Morton was adamant that she should go to a state school.

The couple had been separated for nine months at the time of Mrs Morton’s death, and were embroiled in a bitter divorce. The judge said Morton had been in “mental turmoil”.

Morton was employed at the Greater London Council general division until close to his retirement in 1994.

Police have said her body may have been disposed of locally by Morton, who had a professional knowledge of building work.