Russian gang leader jailed

A RUSSIAN court has sentenced the leader of a notorious gang to life in prison for involvement in at least 20 killings.

A Moscow judge said Sergei Butorin posed a grave danger to society and should be incarcerated for the rest of his life as he was responsible for 20 murders and nine attempted killings.

Butorin headed the Orekhovskaya gang, an organised criminal group that reached the height of its powers in Moscow in the 1990s. He was arrested in Spain in 2001 on charges of trading in illegal weapons and extradited to Russia last year.