A 92-year-old man, Ryland Headley , was on Tuesday told he would die in prison after being sentenced for the 1967 rape and murder of 75-ye...
A 92-year-old man, Ryland Headley, was on Tuesday told he would die in prison after being sentenced for the 1967 rape and murder of 75-year-old Louisa Dunne, in what has now become the UK’s oldest solved cold case.
Judge Derek Sweeting, while sentencing Headley at the Bristol Crown Court, declared:
“You will never be released, you will die in prison.”
The judge said the victim, Louisa Dunne, had been brutally attacked in her own home nearly 60 years ago, and described the crime as an invasion of her dignity and safety.
“You violated the sanctity and safety of Mrs Dunne’s home where she had every right to feel secure,” he said.
“She must have experienced considerable pain and fear before her death.”
Judge Sweeting also pointed to Headley’s prior convictions for breaking into the homes of two elderly widows and raping them in 1977, for which he was initially sentenced to life but had it reduced to seven years on appeal.
“Those crimes show a chilling pattern of behaviour,” the judge added.
Charlotte Ream, from the Crown Prosecution Service, spoke after the sentencing:
“For 58 years, this appalling crime went unsolved and Ryland Headley, the man we now know is responsible, avoided justice.”
She said the breakthrough came after the police reopened the case in 2023, discovering DNA from the victim’s skirt and other materials that matched Headley. His palm print, found at the crime scene, also confirmed his involvement.
Police said the palm print had been compared to 19,000 men in 1967, but Headley had not been included in the sample pool because he lived just outside the area under investigation at the time.
When police arrested Headley at his home last November, he reportedly told detectives:
“I don’t know what you are talking about. Very strange, very strange.”
The forensic evidence had been sealed for over 50 years, and advances in DNA testing led to the crucial breakthrough. Once re-tested, both the DNA and palm print matched Headley.
Mary Dainton, Louisa Dunne’s granddaughter, addressed the court during sentencing:
“I feel it falls to me to speak for the people who are no longer here.”
She described the long-lasting pain the family endured, saying:
“I was just 20 years old when my grandmother died and I’m now almost the same age as she was when she was killed.”
“The murder had a far-reaching effect on our family.”
Dave Marchant, a lead detective from Avon and Somerset Police, confirmed the force was now looking into other possible cold cases linked to Headley.
“Ryland Headley has now been convicted of three rapes of elderly women within their own addresses, and in the case of Louisa Dunne, her murder as well,” he said.
“I think there’s every possibility that there are other offences out there – over the 60s, 70s, however long a time period – which Mr Headley could be culpable for.”
Headley was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 20 years, meaning he will remain behind bars until his death.
No comments