MANINDER PAL SINGH KOHLI SENTENCED FOR LIFE IN SOUTHAMPTON
A former sandwich delivery driver has been sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 24 years for the rape and murder of 17-year-old Hannah Foster.Maninder Pal Singh Kohli, 41, a father of two, was found guilty at Winchester Crown Court today of Hannah’s murder, rape, false imprisonment, and kidnapping in March 2003.
Kohli slightly shook his head as the jury delivered its four unanimous verdicts after five and a half hours of deliberation.
In sentencing him, Justice Keith stated that 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 inflicted upon her family." He added, "It took a long time for you to be brought to justice but the law caught up with you in the end." The judge criticized Kohli, saying, "The jury saw through your lies and you stand there exposed as a heartless and contemptible man who abducted and raped an attractive 17-year-old girl with everything to live for, and then callously and quite premeditatedly took her life so she would not be able to point the finger of guilt at you." During the trial, prosecutors revealed that Kohli abducted Hannah as she walked down a street near her home in Southampton after a night out with her friends.
Terrified, she called 999 in hopes that an operator would hear her, but the call was terminated when she did not speak.
The jury listened to a recording of the call in which Kohli was heard saying, "I want to fuck," before instructing Hannah to keep her head down as he drove out of Southampton in his sandwich delivery van.
Hannah was raped inside the van before Kohli strangled her when he feared she might identify him.
His body was later dumped beside a road in West End, Hampshire, and he returned home to his wife and children.
Her body was discovered on March 16 in brambles off Allington Lane after being spotted by a 14-year-old boy from his mother’s car.
Four days after the murder, Kohli fled the United Kingdom, changing his name and establishing a new life in India.
Today’s verdicts come nearly six years after the killing, during which Hannah’s parents traveled to India four times to pressure authorities into extraditing Kohli.
Hannah’s mother, Hilary, and father, Trevor, expressed their relief at the verdict.
Trevor stated that Kohli had shown "not one iota of remorse for his actions," adding, "Today finally justice has caught up with him." The Fosters’ first trip to India in July 2004 resulted in them locating Kohli following a national appeal.
However, he fought extradition for another three years and later made a filmed confession to an Indian TV station, which he later retracted, claiming it was made against his will.
In that confession, Kohli admitted, "I abducted, raped and killed Hannah Foster.
I want to unburden myself and tell the truth about what happened that night.
I was totally drunk that night.
I strangled her and killed her." Kohli stated he had seen Hannah on the night of the murder but denied stalking her.
He claimed the confession was made because he was "already too tired to run here and there." He was extradited to Britain in July 2007, during which he claimed he had been abducted, blindfolded, and forced to have sex with Hannah.
Kohli also alleged it was a revenge attack by a former colleague over a debt of £16,000 and claimed an affair with the colleague’s wife.
These claims were dismissed as "absurd" by the prosecution.
DNA evidence confirmed Kohli’s involvement, with his DNA found on Hannah and her blood and DNA discovered in his seized van.
Additionally, her mobile phone was tracked along the M27 and M275 in Hampshire at the same time Kohli’s van was spotted on CCTV footage near Allington Lane during the early hours of March 15, the night of the body disposal.
Following the verdict, Hannah’s mother, Hilary, read a victim impact statement, expressing her lifelong guilt over not being able to protect her daughter.
She described her devastation, saying, "Kohli ripped out my heart and stamped on it.
When Trevor and I saw Hannah in the mortuary, I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
The cold, battered, and bruised body certainly looked like her, but where was the sparkle in her eyes?" She concluded, "Our lives have revolved around our two girls, their wellbeing, personal interests, and hopes for the future.
On March 14, 2003, our lives changed forever."
