Man Jailed for Murder in Rotherham

21 December 2011, 17:16 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

An 18-year-old man who repeatedly stabbed a teenage mother and left her to die in a canal has been told he must serve at least 17-and-a-half years behind bars.


Ashtiaq Asghar murdered 17-year-old Laura Wilson in Rotherham, South Yorkshire.

A judge told Sheffield Crown Court he believed he treated white girls as ``sexual targets'' and not like human beings at all.

Asghar was 17 at the time of the killing and the judge pointed out he would have received a much longer minimum sentence had he been just four month older.

Asghar lured her to the canal side near the Meadowhall Shopping Centre and attacked her with a knife he was carrying.

The court heard he stabbed her a number of times in the head but she was still alive when she was left in the water.

Some of her injuries may have been caused by Asghar prodding her with the knife to stop her getting out of the canal.

The judge said today there were almost ``elements of sadism'' about the attack.