Killer Of Schoolgirl Claire Tiltman Gets Life

The man who murdered schoolgirl Claire Tiltman in 1993 has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 21 years.

Milkman Colin Ash-Smith attacked the 16-year-old from behind as she took a short cut through an alleyway to a friend's house in Greenhithe, Kent, four days after her birthday.

She was stabbed more than 40 times in the "frenzied attack".

Sentencing Ash-Smith, judge Mr Justice Sweeney said the 46-year-old, who knew his victim from the local British Legion club, had carried out the attack because of the "feeling of power" it gave him.

"This was a premeditated murder. Your intention was to kill. You took a knife to scene for the purpose, and Claire was vulnerable by reason of her circumstances," he said.

The 46-year-old, who was described as being obsessed with knives, chose not to attend Inner London Crown Court for the sentencing.

Two years after killing Ms Tiltman, he launched a second attack on another young woman, Charlotte Barnard, in the same town, leaving her for dead.

She was stabbed 14 times but survived and Ash-Smith was later jailed.

A search of his white Ford Capri also uncovered one half of a school tie which police established had been used in a rape, kidnap and attempted murder in Swanscombe on 21 December 1988.

Ash-Smith kept diaries in which he described his midnight walks looking for victims and when asked why he carried out the attacks, he said: "I wanted to feel empowered, that I had control over someone, that I wasn't a doormat."

Although he denied any part in Claire's death when he was arrested, detectives continued to examine the similarities with Ash-Smith's other attacks and number of clues, including a prison confession and the fact that he attended Claire's funeral, connected him to the murder.

Claire's parents died before Ash-Smith was brought to justice and police said their deaths made officers more determined to catch him.

The judge told the court Ash-Smith escaped a "life means life" jail term, despite there being no mitigating factors, because he had to be sentenced on the basis of the law at the time of the killing.