19/10/05 - Police search house of 'Ripper' hoax suspect
By Simon Freeman
The Times

A scruffy two-bedroom council house was today searched by forensic detectives in connection with the revived hunt for 'Wearside Jack', the notorious Yorkshire Ripper hoaxer.

West Yorkshire Police last night arrested John Humble, 49, on suspicion of perverting the course of justice nearly three decades ago by sending a tape and letters which tricked police into believing that the Ripper was from the Castletown area of Sunderland.

A police spokesman today confirmed that officers were searching a two-bedroom house in the Ford area of Sunderland where Mr Humble, understood to have separated from his wife, lives with his brother and sister.

Neighbours said the three had lived in the house for around five years and had a reputation for heavy drinking.

David Carroll, who claimed to be the nephew of Mr Humble, added: "I am shocked by all of this, as I know that is not his voice on that tape."

Mr Carroll, 43, from Sunderland, said his uncle had been born on the Hylton Lane Estate, near to the scene of last night’s arrest, and had no association with Castletown.

The letters began to arrive in the late 1970s after the Ripper had committed at least ten rapes and murders in the north of England. There was immense pressure on the West Yorkshire Police murder team, headed by Assistant Chief Constable George Oldfield, to capture him.

The first was sent to Mr Oldfield in March 1978. The second was sent to the Daily Mirror and the third to Mr Oldfield again. In July 1979 Mr Oldfield played the chilling two-minute tape message to a spellbound nation.

It began: "I’m Jack. I see you are still 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 taunting voice of the man, who spoke with a distinctive Wearside accent, was widely publicised at the time and considered to be the voice of the killer. Stanley Ellis, a linguistics expert, concluded that the voice on the tape came from a man from the former pit village of Castletown, Sunderland.

Police consequently concentrated their resources on the Sunderland area, diverting attention away from Peter Sutcliffe, a quietly-spoken Yorkshireman. Sutcliffe, 59, murdered three more women before he was eventually captured and jailed for life in 1981. He is now a patient at Broadmoor secure hospital.

Sutcliffe had been questioned a number of times by the investigation team but was eliminated from the inquiry. Many believe this was because of his West Yorkshire accent as detectives were looking for someone from the North East.

The biggest controversy over the Wearside Jack tape and letters was whether George Oldfield’s decision to concentrate so much effort on it meant Sutcliffe was able to murder three more women while the police were distracted.

Mr Oldfield never recovered from what he regarded as a personal humiliation. He took early retirement from the force and died in Wakefield in July, 1985, at the age of 61.

Although the search for Wearside Jack was officially closed two years ago, it is believed that yesterday's arrest came after police recovered the letters previously thought to have been lost. DNA techniques unavailable at the time of the original investigation may have been used to analyse spit from the envelope's seals.