THE family of a schoolgirl murdered by her spurned former boyfriend said she had been "completely let down" after he was jailed for only 12 years.

John Wilson killed Michelle Stewart, 17, in a jealous rage following the break-up of their four-year relationship.

The victim, who was stabbed 10 times, was left dying in a street in her home town in Drongan, Ayrshire, after refusing to leave her friends to speak to Wilson.

Wilson, 20, should have been jailed for 16 years, but was told by judge Lord Brailsford, at the High Court in Glasgow, that he would be eligible to apply for parole after 12 because he had pleaded guilty.

Outside court, Miss Stewart's brother Kenny, a nurse who had tried in vain to revive Miss Stewart, said: "He will be out after 12 years. We will never get Michelle back. Life should mean life."

Miss Stewart's father, Kenneth, said he wanted Wilson to receive a 17-year sentence, adding: "The family is totally disappointed.

"He stabbed my daughter 10 times - 12 years is not enough for pre-meditated murder. I expected a 17-year sentence - a year at least for every year of Michelle's life."

Wilson pounced on Miss Stewart in the town's Mill O'Shield Road in November last year as she and friends linked arms and walked away after she refused to speak to him.

The girls ignored him when Wilson threatened to "Do her in, in front of her pals,' before he attacked.

Lord Brailsford said that Wilson, who had previous convictions for a racially aggravated breach of the peace and throwing a firework at a bus full of passengers, had shown no remorse.