Peter Pickering was detained at Thornford Park Hospital in Thatcham

Peter Pickering was detained at Thornford Park Hospital in Thatcham and had been incarcerated since 1972.

The 82-year-old told staff he was suffering from 'stabbing pains' in his back, legs and abdomen and continued to ask to see a doctor.

He died on March 25 and was found in his room, having suffered a ruptured aortic aneurysm.

The inquest at Reading Town Hall heard evidence from on-call staff, with of the nurses explaining how the stress of being in court had led to a noticeable change in his stress levels.

Peter Bedford, senior coroner for Berkshire, said: "While there is an understandable level of scrutiny when someone in detention dies, my experience with Thornford Park is that it tends to be populated by older patients who tend to pass away through natural causes.

"This condition can develop without any kind of warning to alert doctors and this appears to have been the case with Mr Pickering.

"His pain became more severe to the point where any intervention was impossible."

Paramedics and staff commenced CPR after he was found on the floor of his room and his breathing became laboured.

The aneurysm went undiagnosed and - despite being anxious about court proceedings - his physical health remained fine before his sudden death.

Pickering admitted to the manslaughter of 14-year-old Shirley Boldy in 1972.

He was convicted of the rape and false imprisonment of an 18-year-old woman in South Yorkshire, which took place three or four weeks before he killed Boldy.

Officers in West Yorkshire said they suspected Pickering was also responsible for the killing of Elsie Frost, 14, who was stabbed to death in a tunnel beneath a railway line in Wakefield in 1965.

He was arrested in West Berkshire in 2016 on suspicion of her murder.

His death was treated as non-suspicious and the inquest heard how he had an extensive history of medical problems, including a heart attack.