Wearside Jack

On 23 February 2006, a 50-year-old man John Humble, a former labourer and window cleaner from Flodden Road, Ford Estate, Sunderland, has admitted to being the notorious Yorkshire Ripper hoaxer known as Wearside Jack. Mr Humble, who did not appear in court, admitted sending two letters and an audio tape to police and a third letter to the 'Daily Mirror' during the investigation into the Ripper murders in the late 1970s. He has also denied intending to pervert the course of justice at Leeds Crown Court. The hoax letters and tape were sent during the inquiry into the Ripper murders. Two of the letters were sent directly to Assistant Chief Constable George Oldfield, who led the investigation in the late 1970s. A third letter was sent to a national newspaper office in Manchester. The audio tape, which claimed to be from the murderer and taunted the police for not catching him, was played to the public by detectives in 1979.

John Humble Senior officers decided the Sunderland voice on the tape was that of the murderer, this convinced West Yorkshire police that their suspect was from Sunderland, causing the investigation to be shifted to that area. During that time, the real Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe, from Bradford had killed another three women. Investigators initially discounted Sutcliffe as a suspect because his accent and handwriting did not match those in the audio tape and letters, which police believed were genuine.

Peter Sutcliffe was eventually arrested on January 1981 following a routine traffic inquiry. Sutcliffe a truck driver confessed to being the ripper, it was only then that 'Wearside Jack' was exposed as a hoaxer. The hoax helped to delay the capture of Peter Sutcliffe.

Peter Sutcliffe was jailed for life for the murder of 13 women. He was later transferred to Broadmoor secure hospital. .John Humble, from Sunderland, was charged in October with sending three letters and an audio tape to detectives hunting the killer in the late 1970s. Police said Humble's actions wasted thousands of hours of police time. Despite an above average school record, John Samuel Humble's career had never progressed beyond a bricklaying apprenticeship. But library's crime shelves absorbed him and no book more than Jack the Ripper. A green covered hardback which he borrowed in 1974, and took a year to read. While copying out sections of the Ripper's 1888 letter, which taunted the Metropolitan Police.

On Monday, the court heard Humble told police he was probably drunk when he posted the letters and the tape after becoming fascinated with the 19th century murderer Jack The Ripper. The court heard that Humble was a hopeless alcoholic who had attempted suicide after realizing what he had done.

On Tuesday, 21st March 2006 John Humble who has admitted being the notorious Yorkshire Ripper hoaxer known as Wearside Jack has been jailed for eight years for perverting the course of justice. Humble said "I deserve to go to jail for 'evil' Ripper hoax".

Jailing Humble, Leeds Judge Norman Jones QC said it could not be said that Humble's actions caused or directly led to the deaths of three women who were murdered after the hoax letters and tapes had moved the focus of the police investigation to Sunderland. Nor could it be said that the killer would have been caught earlier had it not been for Humble. But the judge said that when the real killer Peter Sutcliffe was caught, he told police that the hoax letters and tape had given him confidence.

The judge also said "The least that could be said was these victims would have stood a better chance of not being attacked had these police resources been directed in West Yorkshire".