Leah Croucher murder suspect Neil Maxwell had been jailed for rape

The man suspected of murdering Leah Croucher spent years in jail for multiple sexual offences against women and children, the BBC has learned.

Miss Croucher was 19 years old when she was last seen in Milton Keynes in 2019. Her body was found in an empty house in the city last month.

Neil Maxwell, who was found dead weeks after the teenager disappeared, was named the prime suspect by police.

Thames Valley Police said it was "keeping an open mind" about the case.

The teenager was last seen on CCTV walking down Buzzacott Lane in Furzton, Milton Keynes, on her way to work on 15 February 2019.

Her body was found, along with her rucksack and other belongings, at a house on Loxbeare Drive - which is less than half-a-mile (0.8km) from where she was last seen.

Police received a call about the discovery of human remains in the loft on 10 October. Four days later, Maxwell was named by officers as the prime suspect in their murder investigation.

The 49-year-old worked as a maintenance man for the homeowner, who lives abroad, and was the only person to have keys to the house when Miss Croucher vanished, police said.

At the time he was being hunted by police in connection with a sexual assault that happened in November 2018, and he had evaded arrest on 18 occasions prior to his death in April 2019.

The BBC understands Maxwell's offending began in 1998 when he raped a child. He was jailed and put on the sex offenders' register.

In 2002, he was jailed for four years after being convicted of three sex offences against a girl under the age of 16 and for failing to notify police of a change of name/address.

In 2009, Maxwell admitted raping a woman in Datchet, Berkshire, and was sentenced to four years and 10 months in prison.

A year later, Maxwell pleaded guilty to sexual activity with a child and received a six-month sentence, to be served concurrently with the previous sentence.

In February 2018, he pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a woman in Milton Keynes and was sentenced to 200 hours of community service after serving time on remand.

On Tuesday, the senior coroner for Milton Keynes withheld Maxwell's record of inquest while a police investigation continues.

A spokesman for Thames Valley Police said: "We are keeping an open mind as to the circumstances.

"Neil Maxwell is our only named suspect at this time."

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