'Canal' killer gets life

AT SHEFFIELD Crown Court, Lord Justice Davis handed down a life sentence to Ashtiaq Asghar with the recommendation that he serve at least 17½ years for murdering Laura Wilson.

The court heard how he repeatedly stabbed 17 years old Laura Wilson then left her to die in the Sheffield & South Yorkshire Navigation at Tinsley near Sheffield.  He would have had a longer minimum term of imprisonment had he been a few months older, Alan Tilbury reveals.

Sexual targets

Lord Justice Davis told the court that 18 years old Ashtiaq Asghar had a 'mindset' that he saw white girls simply as sexual targets. He had earlier pleaded guilty to murdering Laura Wilson in October 2010.

The court heard how Laura Wilson was killed days after she revealed to their families that she had an affair with both Ashtiaq Asghar and another man, with Asghar taking her to the canal towpath near the Meadowhall Shopping Centre, and attacked her.

Sadism

He pushed her into the water, then repeatedly stabbed her in the head to prevent her getting out, but she was still alive when he left her, with the judge remarking that there were 'elements of sadism' about the attack.

Detective Superintendent Mick Mason, of South Yorkshire Police, told the court that it was a sadistic attack on a young girl, and that the last moments of Laura's life must have been terrifying.