Claire's killer 'should never be free to walk the streets again'

Detectives branded Claire Tiltman's killer Colin Ash-Smith "pure evil" and said he should never be free to walk the streets again.

Officers warned the former milkman was "always looking, stalking - always looking to attack women" and would have pounced on hundreds more if he had the chance.

Detective Superintendent Rob Vinson, from the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate Cold Case Team, said the murder was one of the most "horrific" and "emotive" cases he had worked on.

He said: "Ash-Smith is a very dangerous individual. He is a predator. He would be stalking women with evil intent (to carry out attacks) - some of which he carried out and some of which he didn't.

"On the night in question Claire was in the wrong place at the wrong time. When you look at the writings and some of the things he has done, this is avery, very dangerous individual, and justice has been served at last for thebrutal murder of Claire."

Asked if Ash-Smith should ever be freed, he said: "This is an evil man and he needs to be in prison."

He revealed that Ash-Smith had long been one of the prime suspects in Claire's murder which took place in an alleyway near her home in Greenhithe, Kent.

But it was not until changes in the law were made allowing a defendant's past convictions to be put before a jury that prosecutors had enough evidence to bring him to trial.

Nigel Pilkington, head of the Complex Casework Unit for the Crown Prosecution Service South East, said Ash-Smith would have attacked many more women if he had the chance.

He said: "He is a man who is always looking, stalking - always looking to attack women. The fact he only attacks some of the time is because he is not going to attack if he is going to be seen.

"He is thinking about it (attacking) all the time. How many times has he thought about doing it and then abandoned it? Probably hundreds of times.

"I don't think he can help himself because he is in a 'psycho state of mind'. If you ask him if he wanted to kill Claire Tiltman, I think he couldn't stop himself."

Claire's parents, Cliff and Linda, have died in the two decades since herkilling and Mr Vinson said their deaths made officers more determined to catch Claire's killer.