A 67-year-old man has admitted responsibility for the killings of two women more than three decades ago.

In a major development in one of the UK’s longest unsolved homicide cases, David Fuller has admitted responsibility for the killings of Wendy Knell, 25, Caroline Pierce, 20, Maidstone Crown Court heard on Friday.

The women were attacked in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, in 1987.

As Fuller sat in the dock, prosecutor Duncan Atkinson QC said: “It is right to note that in a further defence statement of August 19, the defendant admitted responsibility for both killings subject to the potential issue of diminished responsibility.”

Fuller has denied murder and his trial is expected to begin next month, the court heard.

Shop manager Ms Knell, 25, was found dead in her ground-floor bedsit in Guildford Road on June 23 1987 after failing to turn up for work.

Ms Pierce, 20, also from Tunbridge Wells, was attacked five months later outside her home in Grosvenor Park.

She had last been seen at about midnight on November 24 when she was dropped off by a taxi.

Fuller was remanded in custody ahead of his trial.