Nickell: police set to charge killer

Police are close to charging a convicted killer with the murder of young mother Rachel Nickell, it was reported last night.

Scotland Yard is expected to charge the 41-year-old man shortly, The Sunday Times said. The man is reportedly being held indefinitely at Broadmoor secure hospital in Berkshire, following his 1993 conviction. Ex-model Ms Nickell, 23, was stabbed 49 times and sexually assaulted while walking on Wimbledon Common with her son Alex, two, on 15 July 1992. The hunt for her killer was one of the largest in the UK, with 32 arrests.

It emerged in June last year that detectives were questioning a man over her death, following a reinvestigation. Colin Stagg, from west London, had been prosecuted for the murder, but cleared in 1994. A judge threw the case out on the grounds police used a "honey trap" plot to encourage him to confess.