AN EVIL pensioner dubbed 'The Beast of Wombwell' died of a heart attack in a secure hospital days after he was convicted of raping a teenager, a coroner has revealed.

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

He recently received a further conviction for the historic rape and was complaining of stomach pains when he died suddenly on March 25.

Peter Bedford, senior coroner for Berkshire, revealed that the 82-year-old had been left alone for just five minutes before collapsing to the floor.

CPR was attempted, but Pickering died due to a retroperitoneal haemorrhage, caused by a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm.

Mr Bedford said: "He was feeling unwell on March 25 and complained of back and stomach pain.

"He was reviewed by a doctor within the hospital, who asked for a urine sample.

Reading Chronicle: The inquest was held at Reading Town Hall

"He was left alone for no more than five minutes and doctors returned to find that he had collapsed on the floor and was clearly in pain.

"An ambulance was called, but he went into cardiac arrest. Despite CPR being administered he passed away at the hospital."

The inquest was formally opened at Reading Town Hall on Friday morning and was adjourned until June 18.

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

More recently, 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.

His death was being treated as non-suspicious and his post-mortem revealed he died from a heart attack.

He had been suffering from heart disease. Although the cause of death is believed to be natural, the coroner said a full investigation was required because he was a detained patient.