Career burglar who raped two women in their homes in the 1980s will die in jail as he is convicted of 29-year-old killing of WW2 veteran and his sister after DNA breakthrough

• Danville Neil killed a WW2 veteran and his sister during botched burglary 
• Thief bound and beat  William Bryan, 71, and Anne Castle, 74, to death
• Neil then ransacked their home in Bethnal Green, east London in 1993
• The killer was found guilty at the Old Bailey after a breakthrough in DNA  

A violent burglar who raped two women in their homes in the 1980s is set to die in jail after he was convicted of killing an elderly Second World War veteran and his sister nearly 30 years ago following a DNA breakthrough. 

Danville Neil, 65, bound and beat war hero William Bryan, 71, and Anne Castle, 74, before their home was ransacked during a horrific break-in on the night of August 22, 1993, the Old Bailey heard.

Neil pulled two wedding rings and two diamond rings from Mrs Castle’s fingers, but failed to find some £4,000 in cash – some of which had been stashed in socks, the Old Bailey was told.

Mrs Castle suffered a heart attack and Mr Bryan went into cardiac arrest after being beaten and smothered during the night-time raid. No-one witnessed the attack, but screams were heard by neighbours, suggesting a ‘prolonged burglary and attack’, jurors heard.

The court was shown images of the ransacked scene, with cushions up-ended on the sofa, broken glass from a vase, a lampshade askew in the corner, a pair of glasses on the floor, and Mrs Castle’s handbag on the ground with the contents spilling out. A hammer and a screwdriver were recovered from the crime scene.

Violent career criminal Neil was finally arrested in 2020 after his DNA was found on the binoculars strap. He had 13 convictions recorded against him for burglary between 1973 and 1998.

There were cheers in the public gallery as the guilty verdicts were given this afternoon. Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb remanded Neil into custody to be sentenced on November 25. 

Danville Neil, 65, bound and beat war hero William Bryan, 71, and Anne Castle, 74, before their home was ransacked during a violent break-in on the night of August 22, 1993, the Old Bailey (pictured) heard 

Neil was finally arrested in 2020 after his DNA was found on the binoculars strap.

Up until the first day of the trial, Neil had offered no explanation as to why his DNA was found on the strap.

But prosecutors said ‘an innocent explanation’ was put forward just before the jury was sworn in.

‘It may be suggested that the DNA that is on that strap is accepted to be on that strap and that it is accepted to be his DNA but that it may have come there because he was involved in car boot sales at that time and somehow Mr Bryan must have bought the binoculars with the strap from him in a car boot sale and then that strap happened to be the strap that came to bind Mr Bryan when he died in his home address,’ they told the Old Bailey.

This week, the killer acknowledged his past convictions for a string of burglaries between 1973 and 1998.

Details were given in court of two violent incidents in 1984 for which Neil was locked up until the year before the murders. In June 1984, Neil and another man had gained entry to a home in Penge, south-east London, where a couple and their three children were sleeping.

Even though the youngsters were not physically hurt, Neil had told the householders: ‘Your kid’s dead, right, we’ve killed your little girl, got it. Tell us where the money is or we’ll smash your heads in.’

The men beat the couple with a metal bar, smothered the woman with a pillow so she was unable to breathe and demanded to know where money was kept.

The husband was tied up and Neil attempted to pull a ring from the wife’s fingers.

He only stopped when she said: ‘What are you going to get for that, 30 bob?’

Both men assaulted the woman, made an untidy search of the house and jewellery was stolen, the court heard.

Neil, who wore woollen gloves, was later picked out by the woman in an identification parade as one of her attackers. Two months later, Neil and a second man entered a bedroom of a home in the Norbury area of south London as the female occupant slept. She was assaulted by the men who asked where her chequebook, handbag and cards were before making off with a stereo music centre and £15 in cash.

Neil was jailed for the offences of June and August 1984 and released on licence on August 7, 1992.

Just over a year later, Mrs Castle and Mr Bryan were targeted in their home, jurors have heard.

Mrs Castle suffered a heart attack and Mr Bryan was smothered and went into cardiac arrest, the court heard.

Last week, Ms Morgan told the jury: ‘On the night of Sunday 22 August to Monday 23 August 1993, elderly siblings Anne Castle and William Bryan were murdered in their home address.

Jurors heard that the the pair had lived together in a flat in Bethnal Green, east London (pictured, the street where they lived) since Mr Bryan was invalided out of the Army in 1945, with Mrs Castle being widowed in 1987 

‘Their murders were part of a violent burglary that took place in the flat. Their home was ransacked. Jewellery was stolen. They were beaten and restrained.

‘Anne Castle suffered a heart attack. William Bryan was beaten and smothered, which caused him to go into cardiac arrest.

‘The prosecution’s case is that it was Danville Neil who entered their address that night to commit a violent burglary, during the course of which he murdered Anne Castle and William Bryan.

‘It took nearly 30 years for Danville Neil to be identified as the person responsible for these events. In 1993, he was a prolific burglar. A sample of his DNA was on the national database as a result of his previous convictions.

‘Over the years, the investigation into the deaths remained open and in that time, in those 30 years, there have been many developments in forensic techniques.

‘Eventually, a strap that had been used to tie the hands of William Bryan during the attack was submitted for further analysis using the more discerning DNA techniques that were then available. 

‘That process led to a significant DNA match for this defendant being found on the strap, underneath a knot.’

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