A convicted killer who murdered two of his neighbours while out on licence for an earlier crime has been told he will spend the rest of his life in prison. <br /> <br />John David Matthews, 66, was found dead in his Derby flat on 25 July 2010. <br /> <br />Five days later Paul Hancock, 58, was found dead in the same building. The pair had been repeatedly stabbed and both were found in their own baths. <br /> <br />Andrew Dawson, 48, admitted murdering the two men, on the first day of his Nottingham Crown Court trial. <br /> <br />In sentencing Dawson to a whole life term, Mrs Justice Dobbs said "life will mean life". <br /> <br />'Angel of Mercy' <br /> <br />He had initially admitted killing both men at the flats in Waterford Drive, Chaddesden, but had denied their murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility. <br /> <br />But he changed his plea to the murder charges at the court earlier on Monday. <br /> <br />The jury was told the bodies of Mr Matthews and Mr Hancock were found in the baths of their separate flats. <br /> <br />Mr Matthews, known as Dave, had been stabbed 18 times. Mr Hancock received 22 stab wounds. <br />Dawson had moved into the same building just weeks beforehand. <br /> <br />He had gone to both victims' flats on the pretence of wanting to use their washing machines. <br /> <br />The court was told Dawson was given a life sentence in 1982 after admitting the murder of a 91-year-old man in his flat at Ormskirk, Lancashire - where Dawson was originally from. <br /> <br />He was out on licence from prison at the time of the killings in Derby. <br /> <br />When Dawson was arrested at Whitehaven in Cumbria he was armed with seven kitchen knives. <br /> <br />At his flat police discovered a notebook which bore the impression of a letter said to have been written by Dawson which confessed to one of the killings and was signed "Yours, the Angel of Mercy". <br /> <br />He told police he had an urge to kill, the court heard. <br /> <br />Det Insp Paul Callum said: "Dawson has shown no remorse for his actions and has simply sought to blame anyone he can for the direction his life has taken. <br /> <br />'Brutal killings' <br /> <br />"These were cold, calculated and savage acts. He has shown a degree of thought and planning and sought to conceal and destroy evidence where he could. <br /> <br />"He has stretched out this process unnecessarily for the families of those men that died for no reason and I would like to express my sympathies for the loss of their loved ones." <br /> <br />Probation officials insisted Dawson was handled correctly and that there had been no signs he would commit further murders. <br /> <br />Denise White, of Derbyshire Probation, said: "We always knew he was a difficult man but there was nothing in all the years to indicate the things that we heard in court today that in fact he was planning to kill again." <br /> <br />Mrs Justice Dobbs told Dawson: "These were pre-meditated and planned, brutal killings. <br /> <br />"Each had the misfortune of being your neighbour who had no chance."
