He was found not guilty because he had killed while fast asleep. Watkins's interest in the subject was aroused when he covered the murder trial of American airman Willis Boshears who had strangled his bed-mate, 20-year-old Jean Constable, at her home in Essex, UK.

That was an attention-grabbing exploration of somnambulistic violence entitled The Sleepwalk Killers which, like some of his subsequent books was sparked by his newspaper assignments. Les became a senior editor with Reader’s Digest before moving nearly 40 years ago to New Zealand where he wrote a weekly column with the newly launched Sunday Star-Times.Īnd at 90 years of age he shows no sign of reducing his output – his latest novel is The Fingering, which he describes as “a Mafia crime novel with surprising twists,” came out last month.Welshman Leslie Watkins was acclaimed as a top Fleet Street journalist long before his first book was published. His works have earned millions of dollars from customers including US President Donald Trump.

Welshman Lee Hadwin, for instance, can neither draw nor paint when awake but creates artistic masterpieces while asleep. He also found happier sleepwalking stories. All were ruled innocent after axing, shooting or bashing their victims. Les then discovered records about scores more killer sleepwalkers. This book was sparked by a trial Les covered in 1960 when an American airman was found not guilty of murdering his bedmate because he’d been asleep while strangling her. In 2018 he brought out This Mysterious Realm called Sleep, which showed the behaviour of sleepwalkers – some lethal.

Last year he published Surviving The Press Gang – 70 Crazy Years in Journalism with stories ranging from being Father Christmas at a top London store to being caged and beaten up in Uganda, which was at the time ruled by maniac dictator Idi Amin. His varied experiences are reflected in the eleven books he has published, in a dozen languages, including non-fiction, science fiction, novels and an autobiography. These are souvenirs collected by Les, as friends know him, during his time as a globetrotting Fleet Street journalist. And on a nearby wall a framed government document denounces him as “an undesirable immigrant”. A hand-carved Zulu warrior points a spear threateningly at Leslie Watkins, 90, as he works in his home office at Arkles Bay.

The Sleepwalk Killers by Leslie Watkins