Rachel Saunders, 64, and her husband Rodney, 73, were initially kidnapped in the Ngoye Forest before they were killed - this is a breaking story

The three killers who murdered two world renowned horticulturalists from the UK in South Africa have been jailed for life.

Rachel Saunders, 64, and her husband Rodney, 73, were initially kidnapped in the Ngoye Forest before they were robbed and killed in February 2018, just 48 hours after filming a BBC Gardeners' World TV special. Their bodies were found days later in a crocodile-infested river.

The pair were botanists who had travelled to region to collect indigenous plants and seeds.

Saffydeen Aslam del Vecchio, 46, his wife Fatima Patel, 35, and Malawian national Ahmad Musa have all been sentenced to two life terms after they were convicted of the murders in June. The sentencing took place on Thursday at the KwaZulu-Natal Local Division of the High Court, sitting in Durban in eastern South Africa.

The respected wild-flower experts had spent a day with TV presenter Nick Bailey to record a documentary, with the couple leaving Mr Bailey and his film crew in the Drakensberg Mountains. They then headed to a remote forest where they planned to search for rare gladioli flowers for their seeds.

Just 48 hours later, the ISIS-linked gang stabbed and battered the British botanists to death. Del Vecchio, influenced by ISIS, had seen the pair set up camp and recruited his Muslim wife and their Muslim convert lodger into a plot to brutally rob and murder them.

The victims were kidnapped around Ngoye Forest and robbed of their belongings, including bank cards which were then used by Del Vecchio, Patel and Musa to make various purchases around Durban. The Saunders were killed a few days later, the South African Police Service said, and dumped in the uThukela River.

Their bodies were later found on the riverbank of the Tugela River. Del Vecchio and Patel were arrested later the same month after Mr and Dr Saunders were reported missing by friends. Items belonging to the Saunders were found in their home when officers searched the property.

Three weeks later, Musa was also arrested and charged. Their trial began in April 2022 and faced numerous delays caused by the defendants, who were eventually found guilty of double murder, kidnapping and armed robbery on June 19 this year.

On the day of their sentencing yesterday, gang boss Del Vecchio and his wife Patel refused to come up from the cells of Durban High Court. Musa stood in the dock to find out his fate.

The court heard how Mr and Dr Saunders were tied and viciously tortured for the woman's gold credit card PIN number and bank details before the murder. The couple were slashed and battered with a machete like blade, a knife and a heavy object.

The pair were then trussed up by Del Vecchio inside their sleeping bags. ISIS supporting Del Vecchio told Patel and Musa that the Saunders were a "good hunt" and a "target" as he stalked them on February 9, 2018.

The next day, he messaged his wife and lodger to say he "had the target" and the "prey are in hellfire" before asking them to meet him in their stolen Land Cruiser Toyota 4x4. Del Vecchio also texted: "Kill the kuffar (non believer). When the brothers go out and do this work it is very important that the bodies of the victims are never ever found."

Patel and Musa met Del Vecchio at the uThukela River Bridge in Ngoye Forest National Park 90 miles north of Durban in the Kwa-Zulu Natal province. There, they helped Del Vecchio take the two bodies, which were still inside the sleeping bags, out of the blood soaked 4x4 and threw them into the crocodile infested river.

The bodies were found the following week but had been so badly mutilated by the predators and other wildlife that it took three pathologists, including a dental expert, months to establish who the victims were. The criminals were then tracked down due to the transactions they made using the couple's bank cards.

The spending spree totalled R734,000 (£37,000) in two days, with the funds being used to pay for personal goods and bitcoin and being transferred into the criminals' own bank accounts. During the search of the trio's home, officers also found camping equipment, laptops, phones and jewellery belonging to the Saunders.

Their stolen 4x4 was tracked a few days later. The court was told the devoted elderly couple had been married for 30 years and lived in Cape Town, every year driving 1,000 miles north to search for rare flower seeds.

They would then sell these worldwide to thousands of customers through their company Silverhill Seeds. At the time the couple got married in the 1980s, Mr Saunders was a senior manager at the world famous Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens in Cape Town.

Dr Saunders worked as a leading university microbiologist but the couple both quit their jobs to set up Silverhill Seeds. They built up a reputation as leading experts on gladioli flowers.

They also travelled the world lecturing on the flora of South Africa and, shortly after their deaths, a book on gladioli they had just finished was published to huge critical acclaim.

Before parting with them after filming for the documentary was wrapped up, Mr Bailey posted a selfie of himself with the couple on his Instagram page, praising their "incredible insight and knowledge" of South African flora and fauna and thanked them for filming.

Italian-born Del Vecchio had converted to Islam and wife Patel was the daughter of a Muslim cleric. Malawian born Musa had also converted to Islam. Judge Esther Steyn said: "The state has relied on circumstantial evidence but the court is satisfied that the pieces of the puzzle presented fitted together perfectly.

"Bit by bit the evidence that has been but together formed into a mosaic and the court is satisfied all three acted together in killing the deceased and disposing of their bodies." Members of the Saunders family from around the world watched the trial on videolink.

Del Vecchio, Patel and Musa were each sentenced to two life imprisonment sentences for the murder of Mr and Dr Saunders. They were further sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment each for robbery with aggravating circumstances and four years' imprisonment for theft.

Del Vecchio was further sentenced to five years' imprisonment for an unrelated case of malicious damage to property. The accused were declared unfit to possess a firearm, and their sentences will run concurrently.