The sister of Shirine Harburn, the Sussex backpacker stabbed to death by robbers in China, has spoken of her pity for the men found guilty of her murder.

Shirine, 30, from Langley Green, Crawley, was killed while on holiday three years ago.

Lianne Harburn yesterday flew back from the Kangding Province, where the men were convicted of murder.

Li Fajian, a Chinese national, received the death penalty while judges sentenced his accomplice, Mao Xianhui, to life imprisonment.

Lianne, 31, of Montreaux Court, Crawley, said: "When I saw them in the courtroom for the first time I think I felt pity for them.

"They were just two young men who had done something so stupid and screwed up their lives, and, in one case, forfeited their life. I do not agree with the death penalty and would prefer to think of them reflecting on what they have done in prison.

"I also felt very angry because my sister lost her life in a very pointless way but, at the end of the day, nothing will bring Shirine back.

"Murder is always senseless but in Shirine's case it seemed particularly senseless and stupid."

Since the killing, Lianne has tried to focus on her sister's life and remember the good times they spent together.

But in recent weeks she has found it difficult to separate her memories from thoughts about the way she died.

Lianne said: "I will always know how Shirine died, how her last moments must have been horrific and how the last people she ever saw were her killers.

"Hearing what happened to her in such detail was difficult but the Chinese authorities have been good to us and given us all the information we asked for.

"Now the trial is over I want to try to forget all of that and just concentrate on the parts of Shirine's life I want to remember.

"There is a sense of relief among the family that it is all over but it also feels strange that it is all finished. It all seems quite sudden.

"Every year I make sure I am not doing anything on May 9 so I can spend time thinking about Shirine and spending the day as I want."

The day before the trial, the family planted flowers at the spot where Shirine's body was discovered - a remote hillside near the town of Kangding in the Sichuan province. She had been stabbed 17 times.

The trained counsellor from Crawley had been touring China with her boyfriend Colin Horsfield but was alone at the time of her death.

She had stopped to read a guide book on a remote mountainside when she was attacked, robbed of £250 and left to die.

Colin had stopped to take pictures further down the mountain.

Colin, Lianne, Shirine's younger sister Kiera, 29, and her parents Clive and Sheila, devoted themselves to solving the mystery of her death.

Colin, 30, and Shirine met at the Glastonbury Festival in 1999 and made plans to travel abroad that Christmas.

He had set off first and Shirine left England in January to meet him in Thailand. It was to be their dream trip The murderers must wait for the verdicts to be verified at a higher court, which is common procedure in China.