A convicted murderer committed 11 armed robberies while out on day release from prison.

Joseph Williams, 52, was sentenced to a minimum of 12 years for the killing of sociology lecturer Ayodele Odamttun with a claw hammer in 1996.

While on day release from HMP Blantyre House in Kent, Williams threatened betting shop staff across south London with a firearm between February and June last year.

Often using a scarf across his face as a disguise, the brazen thief carried out 11 raids on bookmakers to feed a gambling addiction, including four on the Paddy Power in Woodcote Road in Wallington, William Hill in Parchmore Road, Thornton Heath, William Hill, London Road, Wallington, and Coral in Bromley Hill, Bromley.

As he reached the end of his sentence for murder, Williams had been released on day leave and took an £18,000-a-year lorry driver job for Croydon-based firm J&M Insulation, while the parole board considered his long-term release.

Williams, from Bolton, Lancashire, was eventually caught after accidentally shunting his white delivery vehicle into a police car in May last year.

At the Old Bailey on Tuesday (August 16) details emerged about the investigation by the Tower Bridge Flying Squad. DCI Paul Johnson singled out DC Mike Nolan for praise and said Williams is a dangerous man who presented a real threat to the safety of the public in general and to betting shop staff and customers in particular.

In 1996 Williams was jailed for life for battering Mr Odamttun to death with a claw hammer in the victim's flat in Battersea, South London.

He inflicted at least 24 blows to his head as well as multiple stab wounds, while high on crack cocaine, on July 27 1995.

He confessed to a friend while watching the Al Pacino movie Carlito's Way.

At the time Judge Alexander Hutchinson QC described it as 'a brutal murder' resulting from an 'explosion of violence'.