Who is Sandip Patel, Indian-origin man who stabbed sex worker 140 times in UK?

An Indian-origin man was given life imprisonment by a London court after he was found guilty of killing a woman 30 years ago.

The police were able to find 51-year-old Sandip Patel's connection with the brutal killing through the hair strand which was discovered at the crime scene, which was near the fictional home of Sherlock Holmes, on August 8, 1994.

Patel was found guilty of stabbing sex worker Marina Koppel at least 140 times at her flat in London's Westminster area in 1994 and was handed the sentence at the Old Bailey court on Friday (Feb 16).

How did Sandip evade punishment for 30 years?

Sandip Patel, who was just 21 years old at the time, used to run errands for his father's newsagent Sherlock Holmes News on Baker Street. The man, in a 'frenzied attack', stabbed Koppel more than 140 times and killed her.

Even though the police found his finger marks on a carrier bag kept in her kitchen, the police did not treat him as a suspect at the time.

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For nearly 30 years, the crime remained unsolved until a review in 2022 in which Patel was charged with the woman's murder.

The DNA of the hair strand which was found in Koppel's ring matched with Patel while his connection to a bloody footprint discovered on a skirting board in the apartment was also established.

Patel had also figured out the bank card pin of Koppel during the attack and used the number for withdrawing money from her account, as per the allegations.

51-year-old Patel denied murdering her, however, he was unanimously convicted by a jury at the Old Bailey.

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After his arrest, Patel declined that he knewthe victim, however, he agreed that he used to run errands for his father.

Speaking to the police, he said, "I continue to have no recollection of Marina Koppel, her address, or this incident. I have no idea how my fingerprint came to be on this carrier bag or how a hair of mine was present."

In 2023, he was rearrested after his footprint was identified and gave a 'no comment' answer to questions.

(With inputs from agencies)