Double killer Kenneth Valentine could have been just minutes away from murdering another prostitute when police burst into his flat to arrest him, it emerged today.

The 43-year-old had imprisoned another prostitute when detectives arrived at his home in Soho Mills, Thornton, Bradford on November 17, 1996.

It is feared she was about to become his next victim.

The woman was found locked in another room after police seized Valentine, who was sentenced to life imprisonment on Thursday for the murder of Bradford prostitute Caroline Creevy.

Sources suggest it may have been the same room in which Caroline was left while Valentine worked out how to dispose of her lifeless body.

One told the Telegraph & Argus: "There is every chance this girl could have been next".

It also emerged today that Valentine is being linked with other unsolved murders across the country.

It is understood that police at the National Crime Faculty in Hampshire have been handed a file on the evil killer.

A source said: "Valentine worked on fairs across the country. While away from West Yorkshire, he may have committed other crimes."

Valentine's file has been handed over as part of Operation Enigma - a two-year project which was set up in 1994.

The project, which is now being handled by the National Crime Faculty, has 207 murdered women on its files.

A spokesman said policy restricted them from naming convicted criminals who had been brought to their attention.

It was looking at undetected murders between 1992 and 1996, and all detected and undetected prostitute murders between 1986 and 1996.

Caroline was strangled to death by Valentine in October 1996. He wrapped her body up in a patterned rug and hid it in a storm drain close to his flat.

Her body was found by a police frogman nearly three weeks later.

Five years earlier, in March 1991, Valentine had been convicted of manslaughter after killing Leeds woman Janet Willoughby.

Janet, who was not a prostitute, had been tied to her bed while Valentine carried out a sickening assault. Her body was found stuffed in a cupboard under a duvet. The jury cleared Valentine of murder but found him guilty of manslaughter.

He was jailed for seven years but was out in less than five.

During the Caroline Creevy murder trial, the jury at Leeds Crown Court heard how Valentine had spent a lot of time after his release from jail working on a fair which travelled the country.

Speaking after the trial, detectives said women could breathe a sigh of relief now Valentine had been jailed - with no chance of parole for at least 22 years.

The senior investigative officer in the case, Detective Superintendent Brian Taylor, said: "Valentine is a dangerous man and a danger to any woman that he chooses to come into contact with.

"Other women are now a lot safer now he is behind bars."

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