Man jailed for murder of Rachel Manning

Shahidul Ahmed killed shop assistant Rachel Manning, 19, in December 2000, dumping her body in undergrowth at a golf course.

She had been strangled and her face disfigured with a steering lock, which was found 500m from her body.

Ahmed was suspected of Ms Manning’s murder after he was arrested over a sexual assault in May 2010, when police took a DNA sample.

Her boyfriend Barri White, with whom she had attended a fancy dress party that night, was convicted of the murder in 2002 but later acquitted at a retrial in 2008.

Ahmed, 41, of Bletchley, was ordered to serve a minimum of 17 years.

Family ‘has finally got justice’

Mr White said that he was “over the moon” that Ahmed had been convicted of her murder, adding that “justice has finally been done”.

He said that he was “really happy that Rachel’s family have finally got justice and the closure they deserve”.

Mr White’s friend Keith Hyatt, who was cleared of murder but convicted of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice by helping to dispose of the body in 2002, also had his conviction quashed in 2007 after serving a jail sentence.

Sentencing Ahmed, Mr Justice Wilkie said: “Rachel Manning was a charming, witty, gregarious, happy, positive person who had much to look forward to.

“You snuffed all that out, driven by the same demon that led you, in 2010, to carry out a sex assault.”

The judge added: “You must have known that two other people – Barri White and Keith Hyatt – had suffered the agony of being accused, convicted and imprisoned for offences of which they were wholly innocent.

“Nobody can bring back Rachel’s lost life and their lost years.”

Detective Chief Superintendent Rob Mason, of Thames Valley Police said: “What is important about the verdict today is justice for Rachel and her family.

“I cannot praise Rachel’s family enough; they have remained dignified and courageous throughout despite the unimaginable nightmare they have endured.”