The killer of a former school teacher has had his sentenced slashed.

Badr Hashim Khamis Abdallah al-Jabr had twice been sentenced to death in his home country of Qatar after being found guilty of murdering Lauren Patterson, formerly of Leybourne Chase, West Malling.

But after his latest appeal al-Jabr has had his death sentence reduced to 10 years in jail. He has already served five, so could be out within five years.

The decision has been declared a travesty by supporters of Miss Patterson's mother Alison, who has been campaigning for years for full justice for Lauren's death.

Lauren's father had already passed away before her murder in October 2013.

Miss Patterson had been teaching at the Newton British School in Qatar when she went missing following a night out in Doha.

The 24-year-old’s body was found badly burned and with a knife still stuck in her ribcage, dumped in a remote part of the desert.

Burned beyond recognition, the corpse had to be identified using comparison with her mother's DNA.

In 2014, al-Jabr was given the death sentence for murdering Miss Patterson.

A second man Mohamed Abdallah Hassan Abdul Aziz, received a three-year sentence for helping to dispose of the body. He has since been freed.

al-Jabr appealed, but the sentence was upheld. He appealed a second time, again the sentence was upheld.

However, his third appeal has been successful in gaining a reduced sentence.

A supporter of the family, Miranda Cecil, said: "We are all crushed. This is taking us all back to the beginning."

Lauren's sister Georgia Patterson posted on Facebook: "Qatar you should be ashamed of yourselves."