A NORTH-EAST man has confessed to killing an elderly widow in Spain after samples of his DNA were found under her fingernails, it has been revealed.

Richarch Monteith, 50, of Whitley Bay, North Tyneside, who has been locked in Spanish jail for the past ten months, had denied the murder of Diana Dyson, 63, in her Torremolinos apartment.

He and his wife Anne-Marie were arrested by Spanish police in March after the victim was found stabbed, beaten and suffocated in her apartment.

Following the discovery of her body, 179 items of her jewellery were found at the Monteith's home.

The couple had claimed they were in Gibraltar at the time when Mrs Dyson was killed.

But Monteith has now admitted to the killing after forensic tests found that hair under Mrs Dyson's finger- nails was his.

Mrs Dyson had been out celebrating with the Monteiths only a week before she was killed. She had been given the all-clear from breast cancer.

Stephen Jakobi, director of the charity Fair Trials Abroad, which is representing the couple, said Monteith intended to plead guilty in court within the next two months.

But he said he was hopeful that Mrs Montieth would be cleared of any involvement in the crime.