‘Chilling pattern’: Britain’s oldest cold case was resolved after 60 years, 92 -year -old man gets life for rape and murder in 1967
A 92 -year -old British citizen was sentenced to life imprisonment for rape and murder in 1967 on Tuesday, in Britain’s oldest cold case. The AFP reported that the criminal, Ryland Headley, was convicted for rape and murder of 75 -year -old Louisa Dunna after breaking his house 60 years ago.Judge Derek Sweeting told Headley, “You will never be released, you will die in jail,” after sentencing. He said, “He must have experienced a lot of pain and fear before his death.”Subsequently, Headley was 34 years old at the time, he was sentenced to a minimum of 20 years in the Bristol Crown Court of South -West England.This was not the first crime, as Headley was convicted as he was broken into the homes of the first two elderly widows and raped him in 1977 according to the judge. He was originally sentenced to life in jail for those convicts, but the term was later reduced to seven years on the appeal.He demonstrated the “chilling pattern of behavior”, emphasizing the judge. Citing the Louisa Dune case, the judge said that the crime had “violated the sanctity and safety of the house of Mrs. Dunna, where she had every right to feel safe.” Police re -opened the case of dunna in 2023 and matched DNA with Headley and other evidence from the original investigation from the victim’s skirt, when he had imposed a jail sentence of about two years for the crimes of 1977.Hedley, the legal team representing the Dauti Street Chambers commented that it was Britain’s oldest cold case, which was the longest unresolved, as new information emerges around the case.
