Serial killer Dennis Nilsen dies aged 72

Dennis Nilsen, one of Britain's most infamous serial killers, has died behind bars at the age of 72.

The Prison Service confirmed the man who became known as the Muswell Hill Murderer had passed away at HMP Full Sutton on Saturday, 34 years into his life sentence.

It is believed he died from natural causes.

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Nilsen carried out a murderous spree of near-unparalleled savagery.

He is believed to have killed as many as 15 young men, most of them homeless homosexuals, at his north London home.

After luring his victims to their death, Nilsen would often sit with their corpses for days before dismembering them.

His warped crimes were only detected by chance - when a drain outside his home on Cranley Gardens, Muswell Hill, became blocked by the human remains he had tried to flush away.

He was jailed for life with a recommendation he serve a minimum of 25 years in 1983, on six counts of murder and two of attempted murder.

A spokesman for the Prison Service said: "Dennis Andrew Nilsen, date of birth November 23 1945, died in custody at HMP Full Sutton on Saturday, May 12 2018.

"As with all deaths in custody, there will be an independent investigation by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman."