Paroled murderer faces rape charge

BRISTOL, England, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- A convicted British murderer out on parole after serving 16 years of a life sentence is on trial for allegedly raping a woman, authorities said.

Mark Shirley, 39, is accused of imprisoning a Bristol, England, woman in her home and sexually assaulting her for three hours, The Daily Telegraph reported Friday.

Shirley was 16 years old when convicted of the 1987 murder of 67-year-old Mary Wainwright. He was sentenced to life but paroled in 2003.

The alleged attempted rape appeared to be a re-enactment of the murder Shirley committed in 1987, the British newspaper said. The 40-year-old rape victim testified Shirley called her Mary and threatened to "cut me and make me smell as sweet as Mary."

Shirley fled when the woman's son returned home, the court was told.

"It is the Crown's case that what the defendant was referring to was his murder of Mary Wainwright," prosecutor Rosaleen Collins said. "It is as if he was reliving or re-enacting that which had taken place 20 years before."

Shirley pleaded not guilty to false imprisonment, rape, and sexual assault.