19/10/05 - After 30 years, detectives make arrest over hoax Ripper tape
CRAIG BROWN
Scotsman

A MAN was arrested last night in connection with a hoax tape sent nearly 30 years ago which led police to eliminate the Yorkshire Ripper, Peter Sutcliffe, from their inquiries and left him free to kill three more times.

West Yorkshire police confirmed they had arrested a 49-year-old man over the "Wearside Jack" hoax, in which letters and a tape were sent to officers by a man purporting to be the Ripper. The material led police to believe, from the speaker's accent, that the killer was from Wearside.

After receiving the tape, police eliminated Sutcliffe from their inquiries because his accent did not fit the profile. He continued his killing spree for another year, claiming the lives of three more women.

Sutcliffe was eventually jailed for life in May 1981 after admitting the murders of 13 women and the attempted murder of seven others between 1978 and 1980.

A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police said yesterday: "Officers from West Yorkshire 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 being transported to a West Yorkshire police station for interview."

During the hunt for the murderer, police received the three letters and one tape, which was broadcast nationally in June 1979. On the tape, the voice, which became known as "Wearside Jack", on account of its accent, taunted the head of the investigation, Assistant Chief Constable George Oldfield. In a chilling message, he sneered at Mr Oldfield's team's failure to catch him, while promising to strike again.

Michael Bilton, author and film maker who wrote Wicked Beyond Belief: The Hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper, said: "The extraordinary thing about the making of that tape and the sending of those letters is that it threw the police investigation completely out of kilter.

"Of course, Peter Sutcliffe went on to murder three more women with the detectives of West Yorkshire convinced that their man lived in the Sunderland area and that's where the focus of attention shifted. Anyone who harboured any doubts about Peter Sutcliffe were put off."

Mr Bilton said that he believed the police had destroyed the DNA evidence extracted from the letters and tapes - it was reported earlier this year that they had been lost - and was not sure what the police are basing their case on. Research by scientists had pinpointed the man's accent as coming from a village of Castletown, north of Sunderland. Several years ago, voice experts aged the voice on the tape to find out how he would sound now.

It has been suggested that Sutcliffe had an accomplice, who had been responsible for sending the tapes in order to throw the police off the scent.

When asked during his trial if he had killed Joan Harrison - one of his supposed victims - the killer denied it, saying that it must have been the person who made the tapes. This, however, was dismissed widely as a lie.

Chilling words: The transcript that threw police off scent

"I'M JACK. I see you are having no luck catching me. I have the greatest respect for you, George, but Lord, you are no nearer catching me now than four years ago when I started.

I reckon your boys are lettin' you down, George. They can't be much good, can they? The only time they came near catching me was a few months back in Chapeltown, when I was disturbed. Even then it was a uniformed copper, not a detective.

I warned you in March that I'd strike again. Sorry it wasn't Bradford. I did promise you that, but I couldn't get there. I'm not quite sure when I'll strike again, but it will definitely be some time this year, maybe September, October or even sooner if I get the chance. I'm not sure where, maybe Manchester.

I like it there, there's plenty of them knocking about. They never learn, do they George? I bet you've warned them. But they never listen.

At the rate I'm goin' I should be in the book of records. I think it's 11 up to now, isn't it? Well, I'll keep on going for a while yet. I can't see myself being nicked just yet. Even if you do get near, I'll probably top myself first.

Well, it's been nice chatting to you, George. Yours, Jack the Ripper.

No good looking for fingerprints, you should know by now it's as clean as a whistle. See you soon. 'Bye. Hope you like the catchy tune at the end. Ha-ha."

The stilted monologue had lasted three minutes and 16 seconds. Several more seconds of blank tape hissed by, before a 22- second snatch of Thank You For Being A Friend - a cloying ballad by Andrew Gold - ended the tape.