33-year jail term for killer mother

Sep 22 2009

A father whose two teenage daughters were stabbed to death by his ex-wife has spoken of his "incalculable" loss as she was sentenced to at least 33 years in prison.

David Baker, whose daughters Davina, 16, and Jasmine, 13, were murdered by Rekha Kumari-Baker, said words were not enough to express his feelings.

Kumari-Baker, 41, was found guilty of murder on Monday following a trial at Cambridge Crown Court.

On Tuesday Judge Mr Justice Bean imposed two mandatory life sentences and said Kumari-Baker should serve 33 years before being considered for parole. Kumari-Baker has already spent two years and 92 days in custody and therefore has at least 30 years and 273 days left of her sentence.

The judge said the Parole Board would not consider her for release until 2040, when she will be 72.

During the two-week trial, jurors heard that Kumari-Baker attacked the girls in the early hours of June 13, 2007 as they slept at her home in Stretham, Cambridgeshire. She first walked into Davina's bedroom and stabbed her eldest daughter 37 times, then moved into Jasmine's bedroom and stabbed her 29 times.

Evidence showed that Davina - whose body was found kneeling on the floor - had struggled. Jasmine was found dead in bed. Kumari-Baker attacked the girls with two kitchen knives she bought at an Asda supermarket two days earlier, prosecutors said.

Jurors were told that Kumari-Baker was unhappy about a new relationship her ex-husband had entered into. She was also upset by the break-up of her new relationship with boyfriend Jeff Powell.

Prosecutors suggested that she murdered the children in an attempt to "wreak havoc" on her ex-husband.

The jury of seven women and five men took 35 minutes to conclude that she was guilty of murder.