TWO teenagers were today beginning life sentences for the murders of Blackburn couple Mohammed and Bilquis Karim.

Thomas O'Reilly, 17, of Surrey Road, Whitebirk, Blackburn, was found guilty of the double murder at the trial at Liverpool Crown Court.

Christopher Gavin, 19, of Dorman Road, Preston, pleaded guilty to the double murder earlier in the trial.

Both youths had admitted robbing the Karims' shop in Church Street, Preston, last March.

Mohammed, 52, and Bilquis, 48, were butchered in the shop and both suffered multiple stab wounds.

Judge David Clarke QC ordered a ban on naming O'Reilly lifted before he sentenced the teenager.

O'Reilly was sentenced to an indefinite term at Her Majesty's pleasure. Gavin, who smirked throughout the sentencing, was sent to prison for life. The judge ordered he serve another seven years concurrently for the robbery.

Justice Clarke said: "You believed that shop was a soft target for robbery. You took Mr and Mrs Karim by surprise without giving them any opportunity to defend themselves."

Speaking to Gavin he said: "You stabbed Mr Karim viciously and repeatedly with a knife. Mrs Karim made a courageous and hopeless attempt to defend her husband and was stabbed repeatedly."

The judge described Gavin as a ruthless and dangerous young man who cowardly tried to blame his friend O'Reilly for the murders.

Shabir Karim, Mr and Mrs Karim's son, said: "We are very pleased and we feel that justice has been done.

"They both got what they deserved and I hope they rot in hell. Nothing will ever replace my mother and father but we have to get on with our lives as best we can."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.