Hoaxer's Tapes / Letters lost - Man arrested and charged

Kate O'Hara Crime Correspondent of the Yorkshire Evening Post reported on the 2nd July this year THAT West Yorkshire Police HAD admitted that the original recordings and letters from the Geordie “Ripper” hoaxer who helped delay the capture of the Yorkshire Ripper have gone missing.

Curiously all reports of the arrest of the alleged hoaxer make no mention of this report about the loss

A force spokeswoman admitted the tape and letters that sparked the biggest wild-goose chase in British criminal history could not be found. She said:

"There is currently an audit under way and at the moment we have been unable to find the original letters or tape. "There is no evidence that they have been stolen or disposed of maliciously or anything – we just can't locate the items."

She added: "The audit has been taking place for the past 12 months and it's as a result of that that we realised they were missing.

First broadcast on June 26, 1979, (see pic) it prompted hundreds of calls to police from people convinced they could identify the killer.

Harry Smelt, whose wife Olive survived an attack by Sutcliffe in Halifax in 1975, said of the reported loss of records : "Nothing surprises me about West Yorkshire Police – they made a hash of it right from the beginning.

"They ran around like a lot of headless chickens when they were looking for Peter Sutcliffe and the one who was leading them around the farmyard was George Oldfield."

In Michael Bilton's book "Wicked Beyond Belief" it was stated that in 1999, during the making of the documentary "Manhunt: The Search For The Yorkshire Ripper" (produced by Michael Bilton), that a request was made to the West Yorkshire police to test for DNA on the envelopes of the letters and tape. They were eventually told that the envelopes had been lost and there was little prospect of them being found.

SUSPECT ARRESTED

On October 18 2005, it was widely reported that a suspect in the Wearside Jack hoax letters and tape had been arrested. A West Yorkshire Police spokesman stated: "Officers from West Yorkshire this afternoon travelled to the Sunderland area where they arrested a 49-year-old local man on suspicion of attempting to pervert the course of justice. This relates to the hoax letters and tape that was sent to police during the Yorkshire Ripper murder investigation. He is currently being transported to a West Yorkshire police station for interview."

Some reports speculated that the reason for the arrest was that a DNA profile had been obtained from the saliva used to seal the envelopes of the letters.

SUSPECT CHARGED

At 2:00 p.m. on October 20 2005, John Humble,(49), of Flodden Road, Ford Estate Sunderland, appeared in Leeds Magistrates' Court and was charged with perverting the course of justice. The charge against him was read by a clerk of the court, and she stated: "You sent a series of communications, namely three letters and an audio tape, to West Yorkshire police and the press claiming to be the perpetrator of a series of murders that at that time were the subject of a police investigation."

No plea was entered by the defendent. District judge Christopher Darnton remanded Humble in custody, and no application for bail was made. He will next appear at Leeds Crown Court on October 26 2005.

Humble is nicknamed John the Bag, on account of the booze-filled holdall he invariably has over his shoulder. He has spent much of his life on the Ford estate, and in recent times has been living in a redbrick semi on Flodden Road with his brother Henry and sister Jean.

Henry, who many know better as Harry, is reported to be 49-year-old Humble's drinking partner. Neighbours report they head for a nearby off-licence early each morning.

The Ford estate is directly across the river Wear from Castletown, the village which in 1979, linguistics expert Stanley Ellis said was the source of the voice.

An excellent and very detailed history of the hoax can be accessed here .


For those fascinated by this sort of thing, UKTV Drama at 9:00 p.m. and 11:10 p.m. on Saturday, October 22 2005, will repeat a broadcast of the 2000 docu-drama "This Is Personal - The Hunt For The Yorkshire Ripper".

Recent blogs on same topic here