HANNAH Foster had told her friend before she died that she had been followed by an Asian man on at least two occasions, a court heard today.

Under cross examination by defence barrister Abbas Lakha QC, Helen Wilkinson told jurors how she and Hannah would go out regularly, usually once a week.

She said: "Sometimes we would take a taxi home if we going home from the centre of town."

Asked if Hannah would ever accept a lift from a stranger, Miss Wilkinson told Winchester Crown Court: "No."

The court heard how both girls had been approached by two men in a pub and spoke to them before they started their journey home.

They were also asked the time by another two men as they passed Safeway (now Waitrose) in Portswood Road.

Miss Wilkinson said that minutes before she got on the number 48 bus she had noticed a young Asian man driving past in a red sports car.

She said: "When they were at the traffic lights they turned their music down and it made me notice the car."

Mr Lakha asked Miss Wilkinson: "Had Hannah told you in the past that she had been followed on at least two occasions by a young Asian male."

She replied: "Yes."

Jurors also watched CCTV pictures of Hannah and Miss Wilkinson walking past the NatWest bank in Portswood Road.

It is thought to be the last moving image of Hannah before she died.

Hannah's body was discovered dumped in brambles alongside Allington Lane in Eastleigh in March 2003.

Maninder Pal Singh Kohli, 40, of no fixed abode denies the rape, abduction, false imprisonment and murder of Hannah Foster.

Proceeding