Lesley's murderer 'is dying'

The serial killer dubbed the Black Panther, who murdered a Shropshire teenager, looks set to die in a Norwich prison as he enters the final stages of terminal illness.

Donald Neilson was once one of Britain's most wanted men for a series of crimes which culminated in five murders during the 1970s.

In 1975 he kidnapped and murdered 17-year-old Lesley Whittle from Highley, near Bridgnorth. He planned the crime after reading an article outlining the £82,500 she had inherited after the death of her father.

Last night it emerged the 72-year-old, who can no longer use his arms or legs, will be transferred to the Norwich jail's elderly lifers unit within two weeks as he enters the latter stages of motor neurone disease.

Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs is currently held in the lifers unit which also housed gangland killer Reggie Kray and Britain's only convicted Nazi war criminal, Anthony Sawoniuk, before their deaths.

A prison source said: "His deterioration has been rapid," adding: "The thinking is that he would be lucky to see Easter."