Man in court over Ripper hoax
A man appeared in court today charged with being the notorious Yorkshire Ripper hoaxer known as Wearside Jack.
John Humble, 49, appeared before Leeds Magistrates’ Court accused of producing the letters and tape which led detectives hunting the infamous killer to focus their inquiry wrongly on Sunderland.
Humble, of Flodden Road, on the Ford Estate in Sunderland, faces a charge of perverting the course of justice.
Dressed in a blue sweatshirt, navy jogging bottoms and trainers, Humble spoke only to confirm his name and personal details during the five-minute hearing.
He was charged by West Yorkshire Police this morning after being arrested on Tuesday night, following a breakthrough in the 27-year hunt for the hoaxer.
Flanked by two security guards, Humble listened closely as the charge was read to him.
He was accused of writing three letters and recording an audio tape sent to detectives hunting the killer between 1978 and 1979.
The letters taunted police for their lack of progress in catching the serial murderer and conned detectives into focusing their inquiry on the Castletown area of Sunderland.
The hoax letters and tape, from a man with a strong Sunderland accent who claimed to have carried out the Ripper murders, diverted attention from the real killer Peter Sutcliffe for three years.
During this period Sutcliffe murdered a further three women.
The clerk at Leeds Magistrates court read the charge to Humble, which said he was accused of sending the letters and audio tape between March 1 1978 and June 30 1979.
She said: “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.”
Humble, with scruffy grey hair and moustache, was helped to his seat by the guards as the charge was read to him.
No plea was entered and he was remanded in custody by District Judge Christopher Darnton.
No application for bail was made and he will appear at Leeds Crown Court on October 26.
