Hannah's killer jailed for life

Maninder Pal Singh Kohli, 41, was told he would not be eligible for parole for at least 24 years after he was convicted at Winchester Crown Court of the attack on 17-year-old Hannah Foster.

Sentencing him, judge Mr Justice Keith said his crime was aggravated by "Hannah's vulnerability as a young slip of a girl, the terrible and appalling ordeal which Hannah must have gone through before you killed her, the wanton way you disposed of her body and the unimaginable grief to which you have subjected her family".

Kohli, who fled to India after the attack, was convicted unanimously of the murder, rape, abduction and false imprisonment of the brilliant A-level student in March 2003.

In setting the 24-year minimum term, the judge gave Kohli full credit for the 486 days he spent on remand since his extradition back to the UK last year but said he would not give Kohli full credit for the time he spent on remand while he fought his extradition from India. He said that if he had not decided to fight the extradition and had voluntarily returned to Britain to face justice, so sparing Hannah's family a five-and-a-half-year wait for justice, he could have been brought back to Britain within six months.

In consequence, the judge said that he would give Kohli credit for that six months, or 182 days, meaning that he would serve 22 years and 62 days after taking into account the time spent on remand in Britain and India.

He further sentenced Kohli to 12 years for the rape of Hannah and six years for false imprisonment and kidnap of the youngster. He said these sentences would run concurrent to the 24 years he imposed for Hannah's murder.

He then addressed Hannah's family, praising the dignity with which they conducted themselves throughout the trial and offering his condolences for their loss. "Although I know that Hannah will be in their hearts forever, I hope this trial will bring a measure of closure for them."

Outside court, Hannah's father, Trevor Foster, 58, an auditor, said that the sentence did not fit the crime as Kohli would be given a "second chance" when he was released. Holding the hands of his 20-year-old daughter and wife, a cardiac nurse, he said: "We cannot accept and never will be able to accept, how a complete stranger can abduct, rape and murder your teenage daughter, still a child in the eyes of the law, and yet not end his days in prison.

"This man callously deprived Hannah of her primary human right - the right to life. This sentence gives him the right to a second chance at life, a second chance he never gave Hannah. To see Kohli's life valued in this way when he showed such utter disregard for Hannah's is hurtful beyond measure. The punishment should fit the crime. In this case, it most certainly did not."