ON THE face of it, he was an average man - happily married with two young children and a steady income. But on the night of March 14, 2003, Maninder Pal Singh Kohli turned rapist and killer.

With no history of any kind of crime or violence, his brutal capability shocked those who knew him, as well as those who didn't.

Born on November 6, 1967 in Chandigarh, India, Kohli was one of three children who were brought up in Patiala, some 70km away.

Educated through school and university in India, he came to the UK in 1994 having married Shalinder Kaur.

In 1995 they bought a flat in Broadlands Road, Ports-wood, Southampton and the couple had two sons who are now aged ten and 12.

Before working at Hazel-wood Foods in Empress Road, Southampton, Kohli was employed at Eastleigh's Manor Bakeries for the Mr Kipling chain. In his last job as a sandwich delivery driver he would take home around £210 a week.

An addicted gambler, he would regularly fritter away most of his weekly earnings in betting shops. Against Indian tradition, he also liked to drink alcohol and eat red meat.

He was disliked by his in-laws, who live in Southamp-ton, and had a bad reputation for his gambling and borrowing money.

His crime of bigamy came a year later when he met and married Bharati Das in the Kalimpong district of north India. Calling himself Mike Davis from England, he set up home with his second wife who knew little of his real background until his arrest as they attempted to leave for Nepal on July 15, 2004.