A convicted sex offender who tortured and murdered a woman and her young daughter was branded "evil personified" by the family of his victims.
Former soldier Thomas Smith, 26, was jailed for a minimum of 32 years for the horrific attacks on Diane Fallon and her 10-year-old daughter Holly in Ayrshire last year.
He tied his victims up, raped Holly and bit Mrs Fallon's body before strangling them at a house in the village of Cronberry, near Cumnock.
The mother and daughter disappeared on March 28 after attending a village fete. Their bodies were discovered 11 days later.
Unemployed Smith, who was convicted of indecent assault in May 2006 at Teesside Crown Court, lived next door to his victims at the time he launched his attack.
At the High Court in Glasgow, he was sentenced to life in prison for both of the murders and told he must serve 32 years before being considered for parole.
Speaking outside court after the sentencing, Mrs Fallon's sister, Deborah Weir, said: "There are no words in the human vocabulary which can describe the evil that stood in the dock today. He is evil personified.
"He has taken the lives of two innocent people in a most brutal and horrific manner. Diane, a loving mother, daughter, sister and aunt, and Holly, a beautiful sister, granddaughter, niece and cousin.
"Their loss has had a huge impact on us as a family. Our lives will never be the same again, there will always be something missing.
"We as a family have been satisfied by the outcome and believe that justice has been done for Diane and Holly, and we can take some comfort in the knowledge that he's going away for a very long time."
