A young man of 17 has been given the maximum youth sentence for killing a 14-year-old girl called Savannah last year.

The NOS reports on Friday that a court in Utrecht has sentenced him to two years in youth prison with long-term psychological treatment.

Savannah’s body was discovered in a ditch on an industrial estate three days after she disappeared on her way home from school in Bunschoten, in the Utrecht province.

The boy, whom she had met in a chat group and was meeting the day she went missing, was arrested shortly afterwards. He was connected to the location where her body was found by DNA traces, chat messages, CCTV images and a soft drinks can.

Clear

It has not been established how the girl was killed but the judges said it was clear that the 17-year-old boy caused her death.

He had pleaded innocent, but did say he was in love with Savannah and felt that he had been cheated on.

The death, which happened in the same week as the murder of another 14-year-old girl, Romy, by a 14-year-old boy shocked the Dutch nation.