Axe murderer jailed for life

A double axe-murderer caught by 'classic detective work' was given a life sentence yesterday. Dennis Smalley, 49, was trapped by the unusual paint on the weapon he used to kill Joe Rylatt, 61, a bookmaker, and Fred Maltby, 75, a retired farmer, Lincoln Crown Court was told.

Paint on an axe stained with blood was sold by only one British company which supplied one other company - where Smalley worked as a welder. Smalley, of North Hykeham, Lincolnshire, more than pounds 19,000 in debt at the time of the killings, denied both murders.