A thug who murdered one man and tried to kill another was previously jailed for the manslaughter of a Kent policeman.

Wayne Rule, 46, was caged after admitting the manslaughter of PC Jon Odell, who he struck with his Vauxhall Astra in Margate a week before Christmas in 2000.

The 30-year-old officer had been carrying out a speed check in Shottendane Road when the driver hit and killed him.

Following his release from jail in 2006, Rule moved to Cygnet Court in Spalding, where he was later charged with the murder of Darren Kirk, 52.

His latest victim died from a stab wound to the chest following an incident at a property in the Lincolnshire town two years ago.

The criminal was also accused of the attempted murder of Mark Stone, who was injured on the same day at another address nearby.

Rule had denied both charges and was due to stand trial later this month.

But the murderer yesterday changed his pleas to guilty at Lincoln Crown Court, before being remanded in custody ahead of his sentencing later this month.

PC Odell was thrown against the windscreen of Rule's speeding car and carried 50 yards down the road during the incident 21 years ago.

The driver attempted to swerve a couple of times to pass the popular officer, who moved in the same direction in an attempt to make the vehicle stop.

Sentencing him at Maidstone Crown Court in 2001, Judge Andrew Patience said: "PC Odell was more than 220 metres away when you saw him.

"You could have stopped, you should have stopped, but you did not.

"Knowing you were a disqualified driver, you thought only of yourself and your desire to get away."

Prior to his death, PC Odell had planned to become a crash investigator and to continue with his hobbies of archery, cooking and making models.

A marble memorial dedicated to him was erected at the site of the incident in 2002.

In November 2008, Margate police headquarters was renamed Odell House.