Killer mum gets 33-year jail term

A woman who stabbed her two teenage daughters to death as they slept must stay in jail until at least 2040, a judge has ruled.

Mr Justice Bean told Cambridge Crown Court 41-year-old Rekha Kumari-Baker would be 72 before she could be considered for parole.

The judge imposed a minimum 33-year prison term after Kumari-Baker's ex-husband, David Baker, told of his "incalculable" suffering.

He said waitress Ms Kumari-Baker had already spent two years and 92 days in custody and therefore had at least 30 years and 276 days left of her sentence. A jury of seven women and five men on Monday found Ms Kumari-Baker guilty of murder following a two-week trial.

Prosecutors said Ms Kumari-Baker, of Stretham, Cambridge-shire, killed Davina Baker, 16, and Jasmine Baker, 14, to "wreak havoc" on Mr Baker. The jury heard Ms Kumari-Baker attacked the girls at her home in June 2007 - stabbing Davina 37 times and Jasmine 29.

Ms Kumari-Baker mounted a diminished responsibility defence - with lawyers arguing she was suffering from an "abnormality" of mind which made her guilty of manslaughter not murder. But jurors took just 35 minutes to conclude she was not mentally ill and find her guilty of murder.

Mr Justice Bean imposed two mandatory life terms - and set a minimum term - after telling the court that her defence was "flimsy and insubstantial". The judge said he thought her motive was a combination of mild depression and a wish to retaliate against her ex-husband.