Mr Justice Cavanagh said Sandip Patel, pictured above in custody, had show no remorse for the murder of Marina Koppel

AN Old Bailey judge accused a killer of “moral cowardice” after he refused to leave his cell and face the victim’s family as he was sent down for “life”.

John, Mr Justice Cavanagh, who decided not to adjourn the hearing despite Sandip Patel’s non-appearance, said it was further evidence of a “distressing trend” he had witnessed in recent years at the Old Bailey. Mr Patel, who lived in Finchley Road, St John’s Wood, was convicted a day earlier after pleading not guilty to the murder of Marina Koppel in Chiltern Street, Marylebone, on August 8 1994.

The judge said the sex worker – a “tiny woman” wearing just lingerie and stockings – was stabbed 140 times in a “brutal, vicious and merciless attack” likely triggered by sexual insecurity.

Handing down his judgment Mr Justice Cavanagh said “there was no good reason for his refusal” and that he was “not unwell”, adding: “This is yet another example of a distressing trend in which those who have been convicted of very serious offences decline to attend their sentencing hearing.

“This is an act of moral cowardice, and can serve to deny the victim’s family the resolution and closure that a sentencing hearing should provide. In Sandip Patel’s case, it is a clear indication of lack of remorse.”

Marina Koppel, who was 39 when she died in 1994

The sentencing remarks, published online by the Central Criminal Court, reveal how despite working as a sex worker Ms Koppel was very close to her son and had a wide circle of friends. Her body was discovered by her husband, who lived in Northampton.

In 2022 advances in forensics meant DNA found on a single strand of hair attached to her ring was enough to bring a case against Mr Patel, aged 21 at the time of the murder.

After his arrest, footprints were found at the scene – showing he was barefoot – and a fingerprint on a bag.

The killer’s DNA was on the police database after he was convicted in 2012 of actual bodily harm against a girlfriend, for which he received a restraining order.

“You punched your girlfriend causing cuts and bruising. This is an aggravating feature but I bear in mind that this offence was obviously very much less serious than the offence for which you are now to be sentenced. I should add that I do not consider the fact that you have not murdered anyone else since 1994 as a significant mitigating factor.

“You have shown no remorse whatsoever for this offence,” the judge said, adding he could not be sure whether Mr Patel had taken a knife to the flat. “I have a strong suspicion that you killed Ms Koppel because of shame and embarrassment at your sexual performance, but I cannot exclude the possibility that there was another reason and so I cannot be sure of it.”

He said “no sentence that I pass can compensate the family of Ms Koppel for their loss”, adding that if the crime had been committed today he would have been given a “minimum sentence” of 24 years. But in historic cases sentences are based on what guidelines existed at the time of the offence.

“I have decided that the appropriate minimum term which I should impose, and which is no greater than the minimum term that would have been imposed by the secretary of state in 1994, is 19 years,” said the judge.