An Indian man is due to go on trial accused of the rape and murder of teenager Hannah Foster.

Maninder Pal Singh Kohli is also charged with the kidnap and false imprisonment of the 17-year-old who was attacked after a night out in Southampton, Hampshire in March 2003.

Police said Hannah, a promising A-Level student who was preparing to study medicine at university, was abducted half a mile from her home.

She had spent the evening with friends watching a band playing in aid of Comic Relief.

On her way back she waved a friend off on a bus before continuing on the five-minute walk to her parents' house.

She never returned and her body was discovered two days later in a hedgerow in Allington Lane, West End, on Sunday, March 16.

Kohli denies all charges. The 40-year-old delivery driver was arrested in India in July 2004 after Hannah's parents, Trevor and Hilary Foster, went there to appeal for information.

During their ten-day visit, Mr and Mrs Foster held a series of press conferences as well as opening a telephone "hotline".

Kohli is due to appear at Winchester Crown Court later.

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