Double killer Alun Kyte fails to cut jail term

Alun Kyte argued his 25-year minimum tariff was too long

A man jailed for life for murdering two women has failed in his attempt to reduce the 25-year minimum period he must serve.

Former lorry driver Alun Kyte, now 49, was jailed in March 2000 for the murders of Samo Paull and Tracey Turner, who had worked as prostitutes.

Their bodies had been found dumped in Leicestershire six years before.

A judge sitting at the High Court rejected claims by Kyte, from Stafford, that 25 years was "too long".

Mr Justice Cranston ruled that Kyte would not be eligible before the parole board until he had served at least 25 years.

Grass verge

The judge said that since being in prison Kyte had "accepted his culpability in relation to Tracey Turner's murder but he denies any involvement in the murder of Samo Paull".

The bodies of Samo Paull and Tracey Turner were found six miles from each other

He said Kyte's solicitors had said he had made "impressive progress" in prison but he said he did not believe it was enough to "have an influence on sentence".

The strangled body of Ms Paull, 20, was found in a ditch by a road near Swinford, in Leicestershire, in December 1993.

Kyte's trial 13 years ago heard how Ms Paull, from Rowley Regis in the West Midlands, had earlier been picked up by the lorry driver in Birmingham's Balsall Heath red light district.

Ms Turner, 30, was also found strangled in March 1994 on a grass verge near Bitteswell, about six miles away from where Ms Paull had been found.

The trial heard how Ms Turner, who also came from Stafford and had hearing problems, had been picked up by Kyte at the Hilton Park motorway service station, near Wolverhampton, on the M6.