Child killer Robert Astley who abducted toddler dies in prison

Robert Astley murdered two-year-old Denise Bradbury in 1983

A man who kidnapped and murdered a two-year-old girl more than four decades ago has died in prison.

Robert Astley abducted Denise Bradbury from her home in Kingstanding, Birmingham, in 1983.

He sexually assaulted and murdered her, before dumping her body in the back of a car in the Sparkhill area of the city.

The Ministry of Justice has confirmed Astley died on 27 December at HMP Norwich, aged 64.

A Prison Service spokesperson said: "As with all deaths in custody, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman will investigate."

Denise Bradbury was taken from her home in Birmingham before being murdered

Astley was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court in October 1983, where the 23-year-old was sentenced to life in prison after he confessed to murdering two-year-old Denise.

He was sent to the Full Sutton maximum security prison in East Riding, Yorkshire, and refused parole in 2022.

The killer was sentenced to a further two years in prison in 2016 after throwing boiling water at a fellow inmate in 2016.