A DOUBLE killer from Huddersfield has hanged himself.

Shaun Clarke, 45, knifed ex-girlfriend Donna Wilson, 30, to death before hanging himself near his home at Burton-on-Trent.

He had served 20 years for murdering another former lover in Huddersfield.

His body was discovered on Monday morning.

Riot police broke into Clarke's flat shortly after Miss Wilson, a sheltered housing warden, was found injured at her home in Burton on Sunday.

Clarke had been released from Sudbury Prison, Derbyshire, in 2003 after serving time for murdering Quarmby mother-of-two Patricia Sykes in 1987.

Clarke, formerly of Thornton Lodge, was jailed for life in 1988 by Leeds Crown Court.

Unable to accept his relationship with Mrs Sykes had ended, Clarke strangled her.

While she lay unconscious Clarke inserted an electric cable into her mouth and switched on the power.

Mrs Sykes had been to the county court to get an injunction preventing Clarke from visiting her. Clarke was said to have hidden in the grass near the school close to Mrs Sykes' house. A male friend of Mrs Sykes said he saw Clarke slap her and drag her into an alleyway in Huddersfield town centre.

Clark alleged Mrs Sykes had abortions after falling pregnant to him several times.

Police launched a manhunt for Clarke on Sunday, arriving at his Burton address at around 10.30pm.

They also trawled public houses in the town looking for the killer.

Clarke's body was later discovered hanging in woods at a water park by a member of staff.

It is not yet known where Clarke lived between his release from prison in May, 2003, and July, 2005.

A colleague of Clarke, who worked at Excel Logistics, in Stretton, Staffordshire, said Clarke had boasted of beating an ex-partner, claiming she had enjoyed it.