A homeless man has been jailed for life after admitting to a murder in 1983 so that he could be shut away in prison rather than living on the streets.
Anthony Kemp, 59, admitted his crime to police after throwing rocks at the window of a London police station in the middle of the night.
Nearly 40 years ago, he beat 50-year-old Christopher Ainscough to death with an ashtray after having been invited into his flat.
Kemp drunkenly told police that he wanted the government to 'f***ing look after me' rather than having to 'sleep on the f***ing streets'.
He then tried to retract that confession, but was held accountable by DNA evidence from the scene.
Kemp murdered Ainscough after being invited into his flat in Kilburn between 2 December and 5 December of 1983.
The murderer was only 21 at the time, but had been invited to the Irishman's flat for drinks.
Ainscough was known to invite men up to his flat, although Kemp denied that he'd made any advances on him, citing an 'argument' as the cause for the killing.
After beating him to death with a marble ashtray, Kemp then wiped down the scene of the crime and left him lying on the floor.
Last year, he then drunkenly confessed to police officers in Chiswick after throwing stones at the window of their station.
He said: "I don't give a f*** what happens to me, cos I ain't got long to live... I'm not going to live on the f***ing streets, that's a fact.
"I'd rather the government f***ing look after me... I'd rather do the last few years of my life in bang-up than sleep on the f***ing streets."
Kemp was jailed for life, with a minimum of 15-and-a-half years before consideration for parole.
Judge Mark Dennis told the Old Bailey: "This was a wholly unjustified and brutal killing which led to the death of a harmless and good-natured man who meant you no harm.
"There can be no doubt that such a dreadful act of violence should have been on your conscience every day since you committed this crime."
Earlier in proceedings, prosecutor Gareth Patterson had said: "It is notable that several witnesses revealed to the police that they had warned Mr Ainscough about the risks to his personal safety from inviting to his flat men that he had just met.
"With hindsight, those warnings were prophetic, as this defendant says he was invited to the flat having just met the victim in a way similar to that described by several witnesses.
"He [Kemp] said he wanted to admit to something that he did 40 years ago in Cricklewood.
"He said 'I murdered somebody'. When asked 'what did you do?' he replied 'I f***ing done his f***ing head in'.
"He said it was 'over an argument, and things'.
"Later he added: 'It was just an argument and stuff and things got out of hand. I done his, I bashed his brains in.'
"He said the victim was a stranger, he didn't know his name, and that it had happened in a block of flats. He later said he believed the victim had been 'a waiter or something'.
"He said the victim was found dead in his flat. He said 'his brains had been f***ing bashed in, his brains were up the f*****g wall'. He said he used a piece of marble to hit him.
"He later confirmed that the murder had occurred in the early 80s and that he had 'never been caught for it, obviously'."
Kemp later tried to pin the blame for the murder onto a man called Terrence Casey, who killed himself in 1989, but police found no evidence to support this.
In a statement, a close friend of Mr Ainscough said: "He was kind, generous, caring, and a family man.
"He was charming and had the extraordinary ability to get on with anyone and everyone.
"He absolutely was part of the family.
"Losing him in the way that we did was something I struggled to come to terms with for many years.
"They took a very special person from us and went on living their life as if he didn't matter at all.
"He had the life that Chris couldn't.
"I don't understand why he did what he did, I'm sure if I had answers, they would never be sufficient to explain what he has done."
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