Murdered girls' father speaks of his grief as mother jailed for life

A father whose two teenage daughters were stabbed to death by his ex-wife spoke today 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 yesterday after a trial at Cambridge crown court.

Today the judge, Mr Justice Bean, imposed two mandatory life sentences and said Kumari-Baker should serve 33 years before being considered for parole.

The judge said he had considered whether Kumari-Baker should ever be considered for release. He had concluded that the degree of premeditation and planning was significant but not substantial and therefore the case did not justify a "whole life order".

"Most people will find it inexplicable that a mother could kill her own children and you have given no explanation for it," he said. "On the basis of the evidence [of psychiatrists], I think mild depression was probably combined with a wish to retaliate against David Baker and destroy the happiness in his life. But to some extent your motive remains a mystery."

The prosecutor, John Farmer, read extracts from Baker's victim impact statement today before the judge passed sentence.

The girls' father said he felt guilty for not preventing their murder. "I have been greatly affected not only by the fact of my daughters' deaths but also by the utterly savage manner by which it occurred," he said.

"I doubt I have slept properly since it happened. I suffer from strong feelings of guilt that I didn't see it coming and helplessness that I have not been able to do anything about it."

Kumari-Baker has already spent two years and 92 days in custody. 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 13 June 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 had 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 and was upset by the break-up of her new relationship with her boyfriend, Jeff Powell.

The prosecution suggested that she murdered the children in an attempt to "wreak havoc" on her ex-husband. Psychiatrists called by the prosecution said Kumari-Baker was suffering from mild depression but did not have a mental disorder or mental illness.

Kumari-Baker claimed diminished responsibility, with her lawyers arguing she was guilty of manslaughter but not murder.

The jury of seven women and five men took 35 minutes to convict her of murder.

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