Man, 92, told he will spend the rest of his life in prison for rape and murder in 1967

A 92-year-old man was jailed for life with a minimum of 20 years yesterday after being convicted of the rape and murder of a woman in Bristol 58 years ago.

- Steven Morris

The sentencing judge, Mr Justice Sweeting, told Ryland Headley he would spend the rest of his life in prison for killing Louisa Dunne at her home in 1967.

It is thought to be the oldest cold case solved in modern English policing history and Headley is believed to be the oldest person in the UK to have been convicted of murder.

After killing Dunne, who lived alone in the Easton area of Bristol, Headley left south-west England with his family and may have spent some time in London before moving to Ipswich, in Suffolk.

In 1977, he raped two women, aged 79 and 84, in their homes in Ipswich. He was convicted and originally jailed for life, but at an appeal doctors told the court the rapes had been due to sexual frustration arising from his marriage to an "ambitious and demanding" wife. Headley's sentence was reduced and he spent about two years in jail.

At Bristol crown court, Sweeting told Headley: "You will never be released. You will die in prison."