Ali Agca, the lone Turkish gunman who in May 1981 shot at Pope John Paul II in St Peter's Square, this morning turned up at the Vatican and placed two bunches of roses on the tomb of the Pope.

He now lives in Turkey and last month tried to get to speak with Pope Francis when the latter visited Turkey, but did not manage to get to speak to him.

Agca said he was visiting the saintly Pope's tomb on the 31st anniversary from the day the Pope visited him in the Rome prison cell he was being kept in.

After visiting the Pope's tomb, Agca was picked up by the Italian police and taken to a nearby police station where police checked whether he had entered Italy legally. He was then released.