Lewisham burglar who killed siblings in their own home is brought to justice after 30 years

A man who killed two elderly siblings in their east London home nearly 30 years ago has been convicted after police identified his DNA on a binoculars strap used to tie up one of the victims. 

Danville Neil was arrested in 2020 when officers reviewing the deaths of brother and sister Anne Castle and William Bryan in 1993 submitted the item for forensic testing. 

Thanks to advancements in forensic technology, scientists were able to establish that a DNA sample taken from beneath a knot in the strap – which was used to tie William’s hands – belonged to Neil. 

Neil, 65, of Sandrock Road, Lewisham, was convicted at the Old Bailey of the murder of William and manslaughter of Anne following a two-week trial.  

He will be sentenced at the same court on Friday. 

Anne’s daughters, Janice and Cynthia, said: “Our mother spent her whole life in east London where she raised her five children. 

“She was the most wonderful loving and caring mother and grandmother – well loved and respected by all who knew her. 

“When her brother Billy became ill after the war, our parents brought him to live with us and they both cared and looked after him with the greatest of attention. He remained living with mum until that dreadful day.  

“The fear they must have experienced will never leave us. Uncle Billy was a kind-hearted, thoughtful and generous uncle to all the family, always happy and so grateful for how he had been looked after.” 

Anne and William – known to family and friends as Annie and Billy – were killed in the Bethnal Green flat they shared at some point during the evening of August 22, 1993, into the next day.

During the incident the property was ransacked and items including jewellery were stolen. 

Both victims were assaulted and William was also restrained. The tie from his own dressing gown was used to tie up his feet, and the strap from his binoculars – which were found nearby – acted as a bind for his hands. 

Anne, 74, suffered a heart attack. William, 71, was smothered, causing him to go into cardiac arrest. 

Six years after the deaths the case was reviewed and a partial DNA profile was obtained from the binoculars strap, but no one was identified. 

Advances in technology years later produced another DNA sample, which came up as a match to Neil. 

The jury heard how just one year before the incident, Neil had been released from prison after serving eight years for two South London burglaries in 1984.  

During both incidents female victims were assaulted in their own homes before items were stolen.

In October 2020, officers carried out a search warrant at Neil’s Lewisham home. When initially interviewed he denied all knowledge of the incident.

Neil – who was 35 when he killed William and Anne – has continued to deny any involvement in their deaths, but was unable to provide a plausible explanation as to how his DNA ended up on the strap used to bind William’s hands.  

Pictured top: Danville Neil – now awaiting sentencing (Picture: The Met)