A double murderer, originally from York , who threw a 61-year-old man from a sixth-floor balcony and battered a pensioner to death was jailed for life at the Old Bailey.

Robert Jeffrey, 46, punished Reginald Witt, 61, for calling him a "bastard" during a drinking session.

And after later killing William Maxwell, 67, Jeffrey said he had "done him a favour".

In June, 1997, Jeffrey appeared at the Old Bailey and was deemed mentally unfit to plead.

He was sent to Broadmoor under the Insanity and Fitness to Plead Act, but doctors recently ruled him fit for trial.

Last week, Jeffrey was convicted of murdering Mr Maxwell, who lived in Vauxhall Street, SE London, in March 1995.

Yesterday, a second jury convicted him of murdering Mr Witt, whom he threw from a balcony at Windmill House, close to Waterloo Station, the previous month.

The majority verdict was reached after Jeffrey, Mr Maxwell's former neighbour, denied the charges.

Jeffrey had been convicted of rape in 1972 and again in 1981 at York Crown Court, when he was jailed for six years.

Shortly before the murders, Jeffrey served nine months for abducting a child in Doncaster.

Detailing the first murder, Anthony Glass, QC, prosecuting, said Jeffrey had been drinking with Mr Witt and two others.

A row erupted when Jeffrey objected to the older man calling him a "bastard".

Jeffrey was then seen to "raise a music centre and bring it down on Mr Witt's head three times causing him to lose consciousness."

He was dragged on to a balcony where Jeffrey "propped the unconscious man against the rail."

The Crown contended Jeffrey "propelled" Mr Witt to his death.

A witness claimed Jeffrey had lifted the victim "over the balcony" and had "thrown him over".

Just over a month after the first killing, Jeffrey was drinking at Mr Maxwell's home.

Another drinker witnessed a row and Jeffrey beat the pensioner about the head with a piece of wood.

As he lay dead, the defendant said he had done him a "favour".

Jeffrey was returned to Broadmoor. He will only be jailed if he recovers from mental illness.

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