A SELF-CONFESSED murderer has died in prison while awaiting sentence for killing his father.

Lukasz David Adam Lukasik had also admitted trying to kill his mother and causing actual bodily harm to his sister.

The 36-year-old man from Charles Street, Selby, was due to receive a life sentence on Friday.

At his last court hearing, he had been remanded in custody to Hull Prison where he had been since his arrest last December.

He was found dead in his cell last week.

On Monday, Judge Thomas Bayliss QC, told Leeds Crown Court he had received a death certificate from the Hull coroner stating that Lukasik was dead.

He did not say how Lukasik had died or give any of the circumstances surrounding the discovery of his body.

Shortly after his arrest last December, Lukasik’s legal team commissioned psychiatrists to see what his mental state was and if he was suffering from a mental illness.

On May 14, his barrister Nicholas Lumley QC told Leeds Crown Court his mental state could not provide him with a defence against the charges.

Lukasik then pleaded guilty to murdering his father Jerzy and attempting to murder his mother Maria in Finkle Street, and causing actual bodily harm to his sister Monika in Charles Street.

Following his plea, the Recorder of Leeds, Judge Guy Kearl QC warned him: “There is only one sentence which I will be able to pass and that will be a sentence for life.”

He then adjourned the case to give Lukasik’s legal team time to gather documents so they could argue for a lesser tariff to his life sentence.

The tariff is the length of time he would have had to serve before being allowed parole.

The Hull coroner has started an investigation into Lukasik’s death as he died behind bars and there will be an inquest later.

All the offences happened on December 29.

North Yorkshire Police were called to Finkle Street at 8.45am that day. They found the father fatally injured and his wife seriously injured nearby.

The son was arrested later the same day and after several days in police custody appeared before York Magistrates' Court on January 4.