The sister of murdered housewife Mary Gregson today spoke of her hope that her killer dies behind bars.

As lorry driver Ian Lowther began a life sentence for the brutal crime he committed in 1977, Judith Sykes told the Telegraph & Argus: "He should never be allowed out.

"I can't speak for the rest of the family but I know I will always hate him. He's lived a lie for two decades, now I want him to die in jail."

As reported in later editions of yesterday's Telegraph & Argus Lowther, 47, of Derwent Avenue, Baildon, pleaded guilty to murder.

He finally confessed 23 years after his victim's battered and bruised body was pulled from the River Aire at Saltaire, Shipley, as his guilt was exposed by advances in DNA techniques.

In mitigation, Lowther's barrister described the killing as "ten minutes of total, brutal madness" and "totally out of character".

But Mrs Sykes said: "Some people might think 'poor soul, he's had one moment of madness and been a good boy ever since' - he's tortured our family for 23 years."

She will be making an emotional return to the canal towpath in the next few days to say a final farewell to her sister.

After the case senior investigating officer, Detective Chief Superintendent Brian Taylor, said he found it amazing Lowther had continued to live so close to the scene of his crime.

"He could have gone to the end of his garden last year and seen the Crimewatch reconstruction. It's pretty unbelievable.

"But, we can all draw a line under the case now. There's no doubt about whether he did it - Lowther stood in court and admitted he was the killer."

The dramatic end to the murder mystery came as no surprise to the detective inspector in charge of the original inquiry.

Chris Wilson retired from West Yorkshire Police in 1998, confident that it be would only be a matter of time before colleagues snared the killer.

The 55-year-old former detective visited Mary's husband Bill, who died a broken man in 1981, every month for two years after the killing.

"His eyes used to light up when he opened the door - hoping I'd tell him we'd caught the killer," he said. "It felt like I was letting everybody down, but I knew we'd get him one day."