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A lawsuit accusing heavy metal band Slayer of inciting the killing of a 15-year-old girl has been dismissed by a Californian judge.

The band were accused of being influential in the 1995 death of Elyse Pahler, who was tortured and then murdered by three teenagers in a "satanic sacrifice".

The killers were Slayer fans, who, according to the lawsuit, decided to sacrifice a virgin to Satan, in order to gain respect and recognition for their band "Hatred".

However, the suit has been thrown-out of court, although the family of Pahler have been given 60 days to submit a new complaint. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Slayer's lawyer Scott Harrington insists the band having nothing to fear from the case.

He said: "There's not a legal position that could be taken that would make the band responsible. Where do you draw the line? You might as well start looking through the library at every book on the shelf."

Pahler was murdered by Joseph Fiorella, Royce Casey and Jacob Delashmutt in July 1995, after they lured her to a eucalyptus grove close to her Nipomo home. Having been forced to inhale marijuana, the victim was stabbed to death with a hunting knife. The trio returned later to have sex with her corpse.

Fiorella told a police counsellor after the killings that Slayer music "started to influence the way I looked at things", while Delashmutt told a newspaper "the music is destructive". However, he added: "That's not why Elyse was murdered. She was murdered because Joe (Fiorella) was obsessed with her and obsessed with killing her."