Kohli confessed - but jury was never told

The 41-year-old admitted killing the 17-uyear-old after his arrest in India three years ago.

"She was crossing the road. I was coming out of a pub. I was totally drunk. I abducted, raped and killed Hannah," he said.

For the past seven weeks Kohli's confession before TV cameras has been kept a secret while the Daily Echo and all other media have been banned from reporting it.

Today we can reveal how the 41-year-old, who is facing life behind bars for grabbing Hannah off the street and then raping and strangling her, told police and media how he wanted "to unburden" himself, adding he was "tired of running".

On national TV in India, Kohli said that after snatching Hannah and raping her he told her not to report it to police.

Making his confession just two weeks after Hannah's parents Hilary and Trevor Foster travelled to India to plead for information on his whereabouts, Kohli was flanked by police as he said: "She said she had to tell police, talk to her parents." He then added: "I strangled her".

Asked at the time why he had decided to confess, Kohli said: "I want to unburden myself. I want to tell the truth."

However, in May 2005, Kohli went on to withdraw his comments, claiming Indian police, on the instruction of officers from britain, had "forced" him into it.

Announcing he was going to sue a senior Hampshire detective working on the case, his lawyers issued a writ that claimed Punjab police used "force, coercion and threat".

Earlier in 2005, while in custody, Kohli had written to the British High Commissioner in India complaining of his ill treatment.

In the letter he wrote: "I was even pressurised to say whatever had been written on a piece of paper by a senior police official and was made to rehearse the same several times.

"At that time my brothers were also in custody and their hair was being pulled out and I was made to hear their cries through the telephone."