For more than 35 years a killing in Kilburn remained unsolved – until, last summer, a man threw stones at a police station to get officers' attention, and confessed.

Anthony Kemp, 58, has admitted bludgeoning 50-year-old head waiter Christopher Ainscough inside his home in Windmill Court, Shoot-Up Hill in early December 1983.

Mr Ainscough invited Kemp back to his home between 3am and 5am, having met him on a night out.

His body was later discovered by police officers who went to check on him when he did not turn up to work in the city.

The murder weapon is believed to have been a marble ashtray weighing 2.4kg which was found at the scene, the Crime Prosecution Service (CPS) said.

Mr Ainscough died from a fractured skull and a cerebral laceration.

The original murder investigation into Mr Ainscough’s death was closed in 1985 after no leads were found.

On July 28 last year Kemp threw stones at the windows of Chiswick police station at 4am until an officer came out.

Kemp confessed to the murder telling the officer: “You know what, I’m homeless, and I’m not going to sleep on the streets.”

Kemp pleaded guilty to one count of murder at the Old Bailey today (September 24).

He will be sentenced on October 13 at the same court.

Angela Moriarty, from the CPS, said: “This case remained unsolved for more than 35 years before Anthony Kemp turned up at a police station to confess to a murder.

"He later retracted the confession and went on to blame another man, who had been dead for some years, before finally admitting the murder.

“In his initial police interview Kemp described how he had met the victim, went back to his flat where they drank and that the victim had said something that angered him.

"He saw an ashtray on the table and beat the victim on the head with it. In fact, this was a brutal and sustained attack, fracturing the skull of Mr Ainscough."

Ms Moriarty said they were able to link Kemp to the crime scene by way of a cigarette butt left at the address.

“Mr Ainscough was a single man who lived alone. He had moved to London from Ireland some 30 years before his death.

Although we have never been able to trace any of his family, I hope this conviction provides some sense of closure to all those who knew Mr Ainscough.”