The man arrested last week for the rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl 19 years ago has convictions for rape and is currently a patient at a psychiatric hospital, the public prosecution department has confirmed.

The man, aged 46 and from Helmond, was picked up earlier this week after his DNA was found to have ‘similarities’ with the killer’s profile.

The Eindhoven’s Dagblad says the man was jailed for rape for three years followed by psychiatric prison in 2000. He was living outside the clinic but was still under its formal supervision when arrested.

The paper also says he was implicated in a rape case dating from 1987 but this has not been confirmed by the prosecution department.

Nicole van den Hurk from Eindhoven disappeared in October 1995 as she cycled from her grandmother’s house in Tongelre to work at a supermarket. Her body was found six weeks later in shrubs.