A FORMER Bolton man who stabbed to death a clubber 26 years ago has been given a hospital order.

A High Court judge has ordered that Geoffrey Strike, who pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Jason Comerford on the grounds of diminished responsibility, must remain in a secure unit indefinitely.

Strike, now 75, struck as Mr Comerford, then 21, walked home from a city centre nightclub in 1994, cutting his throat.

Several attempts were made by police to persuade prosecutors to charge Strike over the killing

But it was only when Mr Comerford's family appealed again, with the assistance of a police cold case unit, that the case got off the ground.

Mr Justice Hilliard sentenced Strike, who has been convicted since the killing of a string of knife-related offences, to a hospital order with restrictions at Manchester Crown Court.

But Strike's first convictions came as long ago as 1975, when he indecently assaulted a boy. He was also jailed for assaulting a girl in Bolton in 1985 and was in a Bolton Crown Court dock again in 1991 for gross indecency, and later for knife possession.

He also spent a number of years as a mental health in-patient at Prestwich Hospital.