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Man jailed for tourist murder

A Scottish man has been jailed for life at the Old Bailey in London for the murder of an American tourist.

Robert Noble, from Gretna, played the "Good Samaritan" to befriend the 20-year-old student but ended up strangling her and dumping her body in a hotel bedroom.

Noble's victim, Alyson Caplan from California, was on a tour of Europe when she was stranded in London in a snowstorm in January.

Miss Caplan, the daughter of a wealthy financial investor from Los Angeles, had planned to meet an English friend before touring around Europe.

Petty criminal

However, weather conditions left coaches and trains out of the capital suspended.

Noble came to her rescue when he saw her struggling with luggage and being harassed by a drunk.

He was a jobless and homeless petty criminal, living in a hotel under a scheme to help drink and drug addicts.

He took Miss Caplan back to the hotel where they talked for hours and had sex before he strangled her with two scarves.

Noble stole various items including a $1,000 Gucci watch which he pawned for £10 before phoning police to tell them what he had done.

He also phoned relatives in Gretna confessing to the murder and asking for his mother to be told before she read it in the papers.

Noble himself described the killing as "cruel and nasty".

Miss Kaplan's family have set up a website in her memory.

On the site, her father Donald Kaplan and mother Joanne have published a statement in which they describe the family's grief and anger at their daughter's murder.

"The enormity of devastation, shock and disbelief are almost impossible to put into words, but I will try," writes Mr Kaplan.

"This is a heinous assault perpetrated not only on Alyson, but our entire family."