{"id":229110,"date":"2025-07-01T10:59:13","date_gmt":"2025-07-01T10:59:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/229110\/"},"modified":"2025-07-01T10:59:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T10:59:13","slug":"bristol-killer-ryland-headley-told-he-will-die-in-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/229110\/","title":{"rendered":"Bristol killer Ryland Headley told he will die in prison"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The 92-year-old was given a life sentence<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">A 92-year-old man will die in prison after being jailed for life for the rape and murder of an elderly widow in 1967.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Ryland Headley was told he had committed a \u201cpitiless and cruel act by a depraved man\u201d as he was sentenced for murdering 75-year-old Louisa Dunne.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">The former railway worker was found guilty of both charges by a jury at Bristol Crown Court on Monday afternoon, in what is thought to be the UK\u2019s longest-running cold case to be solved.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">He was 34 when he forced open a window at the home of Mrs Dunne in the <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bristolpost.co.uk\/all-about\/easton\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Easton<\/a> area of Bristol in June 1967 before attacking her.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Trial judge Mr Justice Sweeting imposed a life sentence and told Headley he was fixing a minimum term of 20 years\u2019 imprisonment.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0_During-Headleys-trial-for-the-rape-and-murder-of-Louisa-Dunne-in-1967-jurors-were-told-of-similari.webp\" alt=\"Ryland Headley court case\" loading=\"lazy\"  \/> Louisa Dunne(Image: PA Wire\/PA Images)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cYou broke into her home, you sexually assaulted her and in doing so, you caused her death\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cYou may not have intended to kill, but you planned to rape her, and you brutally attacked her.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cWhen you did so, you met her screams and struggles in a force sufficient to kill.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cThe nature of these offenses demonstrates a complete disregard for human life and dignity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cMrs Dunne was vulnerable. She was a small, elderly woman living alone. You exploited that vulnerability.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/1_Ryland-Headley-custody-image-2024.jpg\" alt=\"Ryland Headley\" loading=\"lazy\"  \/>Ryland Headley(Image: Avon &amp; Somerset Police)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cYou treated her as a means to an end. The violation of her home, her body, and ultimately, her life, was a pitiless and cruel act by a depraved man.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">The judge added: \u201cThe minimum term I impose is 20 years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cYou would be entitled to credit for the time spent on demand, which can be calculated separately.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cIt is normally necessary to explain the effect of such a minimum term in detail.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cGiven your age and for all practical purposes, I can do so in very short terms. You\u2019ll never be released and you will die in prison.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 92-year-old was given a life sentence A 92-year-old man will die in prison after being jailed for&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":229111,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8818],"tags":[381,748,188,9999,393,4884,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-229110","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bristol","8":"tag-bristol","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-crime","11":"tag-easton","12":"tag-england","13":"tag-great-britain","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114777632298289352","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=229110"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229110\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/229111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=229110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=229110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=229110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}