Child killer died in prison from sepsis - inquest

A man who kidnapped and murdered a two-year-old girl more than four decades ago died from natural causes, an inquest has heard.

Robert Astley died from sepsis after sustaining a burn to his left thigh which became ulcerated while under the care of HMP Norwich.

He had been serving life in prison for sexually assaulting and murdering Denise Bradbury after he abducted her from her home in Kingstanding, Birmingham, in 1983.

The coroner said the 64-year-old refused medical care and was taken to Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital three days later, where he died.

The inquest heard Astley, who had a complex medical history, died of sepsis, a skin ulcer on his left thigh, diabetes mellitus and chronic kidney disease.

A pathology report read out to the court on Tuesday said the background medical history of diabetes and chronic kidney disease would have been "significant co-morbid conditions", and attributed the death to natural causes.

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

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

Astley sustained the burn to his left thigh on 22 November 2023, after a nurse passed him hot water through the hatch of his cell.

The inquest heard that Astley became abusive with the nurse after some of the water fell onto his pants, later refusing any dressing or antibiotics.

He reported feeling unwell on Christmas Day and was taken to hospital on Boxing Day after his condition worsened.

The doctor concluded Astley had sepsis and pneumonia, later developing multi-organ failure and died on 27 December.

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