A man already serving a life sentence for rape and murder was convicted yesterday of killing a schoolgirl in what a judge said “must rank among the most evil and horrific acts that any human being could commit”.

Peter Tobin abducted and murdered Vicky Hamilton, 15, as she made her way home from visiting her sister in February 1991. He then cut her body in two.

As police began a missing person inquiry, the killer parcelled up her remains in two packages and carried them 400 miles from West Lothian to Kent, where he buried them in the back garden of his council house in Margate.

At the High Court in Dundee yesterday Tobin, 62, was given a 30-year sentence. He was already serving a life sentence after being convicted last year of the rape and murder in Glasgow of Angelika Kluk, a Polish student.

Detectives across Britain are expected to reopen investigations into a number of unsolved sex murders to which Tobin could be linked. Several cases have been held in abeyance pending the conclusion of the Vicky Hamilton trial.

There was a loud, dramatic chorus of “Yes!” and sobs from Vicky’s family as the jury of 12 men and three women returned unanimous verdicts on the charges against Tobin. As Tobin was handcuffed and led to the cells, Vicky’s father, Michael, shouted “Rot in hell” and “Goodbye from Vicky’s dad”. Others called out: “Beast”.

The killer was described by Judge Lord Emslie as a serial offender who was “unfit to live in a decent society”.

Lord Emslie said: “This was a vulnerable teenager who needed help on her way home but instead she fell into your clutches and you brought her short life to an end in a disgusting and degrading way. It is hard for me to convey the loathing and revulsion which ordinary people will feel for what you have done.

“You already have an appalling record of convictions for sexual and violent crimes . . . but abducting and killing a child on her way home from a happy weekend with her sister, and then desecrating her body, must rank among the most evil and horrific acts that any human being could commit.”

Donald Findlay, QC, Tobin’s defence lawyer, put forward no plea of mitigation.

rank Mulholland, QC, the Solicitor-General, who led the successful prosecution, said that Tobin had a conviction in 1994 for rape, buggery, and indecent assault on girls under 16.

Mr Mulholland spoke of the huge distress that Vicky’s disappearance had caused her family. He also praised the actions of Detective Superintendent David Swindle, of Strathclyde Police, who prompted a reinvestigation. While researching the Angelika Kluk murder he noticed that Tobin had lived in Bathgate, West Lothian, at the time that Vicky went missing.

Outside court after the 21-day trial, Vicky’s sisters and brother, Lindsay, Sharon and Lee, gave a press statement. Lindsay Brown said that justice had prevailed. “I am grateful to the jury for returning a verdict that brought closure to the family after a 17-year nightmare. Vicky’s abduction also robbed us of our mum, Janette, who never came to terms with the fact Vicky never came home that night and who died of a broken heart two years later, never knowing what happened to her daughter.”

She also spoke of Angelika Kluk, who died at the hands of Tobin when he worked as a church handyman in Glasgow in August 2006. “We would like to take the opportunity to offer our condolences to the family and friends of Angelika Kluk,” she said. “We know only too well the hurt and grief they will have suffered.”

Malcolm Graham, head of Lothian and Borders CID, said: “It’s been 17 long and difficult years for Vicky’s family and our thoughts are with them. We hope a guilty verdict will bring them some comfort.”

Mr Graham indicated that further work was taking place across Britain to see whether Tobin was involved in any other murders.

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