Wearside Jack
Encyclopedia
Wearside Jack is the nickname given to John Samuel Humble (b. 8 January 1956), a hoaxer who pretended to be the Yorkshire Ripper
in the late 1970s. In 2006 he was convicted for perverting the course of justice
.
, two were addressed to George Oldfield
, the Assistant Chief Constable of the West Yorkshire Police
who was heading the Ripper inquiry, and one to the Daily Mirror.
First letter: 8 March 1978
Written to George Oldfield
The cassette ended with a segment from "Thank You for Being a Friend
" by Andrew Gold
. The police focused on Humble's Wearside
accent. Together with voice analysts they decided (based on dialectology
) that the accent was distinctive to the Castletown area of Sunderland. This led to 40,000 men being investigated — to no avail as the real killer actually came from Bradford
, approximately 78 miles southwest. Police also commenced a substantial publicity campaign, including'Dial-the-Ripper' hotlines, billboards, and full page ads in newspapers. Around £1 million was invested into the publicity campaign alone.
Peter Sutcliffe
(who actually committed the murders) was interviewed about the murders a total of nine times, both before and after Humble's correspondence, before he finally confessed to the crimes in January 1981. The police concentration on the voice on the tape as a point of elimination rather than as a line of enquiry was one criticism of a notoriously botched police investigation. The satirical magazine Private Eye
(no. 463 of 14 September 1979) reported under the headline "STOP PRESS: Ripper – 'I'm a woman'" the receipt of "a video cassette in which [the Ripper] claims, in a strong Irish accent, to be the Leader of the Liberal Party".
Following Sutcliffe's conviction, the identity of Wearside Jack remained a mystery for over 24 years. On 17 September 2003, the BBC reported that police had decided to call off the search for the hoaxer. Assertions were also made that there were no plans to re-open the case, as too much time had passed and modern forensic tests would most likely be inaccurate due to chemicals used in original testing in the 1970s.
, decided to review the case. A small piece of the gummed seal from one of the envelopes was located in a forensic laboratory and following publicity about the cold case review the hoax tape was retrieved from a retired scientist who had worked on the original investigation.
As a result of this cold case review, DNA
from envelopes sent by Humble as part of the hoax were matched in the United Kingdom National DNA Database with samples police had obtained from Humble in an unrelated incident in 2000, when he had been arrested and cautioned
for being drunk and disorderly. By this time Humble had become an alcoholic loner.
Humble, of Ford Estate
in Sunderland, was arrested on 20 October 2005, and charged with four counts of perverting the course of justice
. Upon his arrest, Humble had been so drunk that police had to wait several hours before he was considered sober enough to be interviewed. Humble admitted responsibility for the letters and the cassette, but denied perverting the course of justice, and his legal team pushed in vain for a lesser charge of wasting police time.
At times during police interviews Humble appeared ashamed of what he had done, referring to the acts as evil although not being able to explain why they were evil. He revealed that the motive for his crime was a quest for notoriety, although a BBC documentary later suggested he had a hatred of the police dating back to 1975 when he was imprisoned for assaulting a police officer. Humble laughed at several points during the interview, including when asked about the tune played at the end of the tape. During the interviews he also claimed not to have told any other individual he was a hoaxer, and that he did not realise the impact his actions were having on the police investigation.
Humble also confirmed to police that he had used library books as a source of inspiration for his letters and tape. He confirmed he had attended school in the Castletown area of Sunderland, and that he had panicked as police interviewed men in that area. It was also revealed that his neighbours had been interviewed by police searching for Wearside Jack, but he had not.
on 9 January 2006, and initially pleaded not guilty. He admitted to being Wearside Jack on 23 February 2006, and on 20 March 2006, changed his plea to guilty on four counts of perverting the course of justice.
During the trial, his defence barristers reported he had attempted suicide on a number of occasions, including one occasion shortly after the tape was made public. The defence also claimed he had lived an "inadequate life", and had been driven by guilt to alcoholism. Despite this, Humble did not contact the police voluntarily to acknowledge his guilt, even when it was obvious his tapes and letters were diverting police resources away from the real ripper. A BBC documentary broadcast on 27 March 2006 reported that Humble had telephoned the incident room and informed them that the tape was a hoax. Although key individuals in the investigation were convinced that this caller was the hoaxer, it was officially discounted.
After hearing Humble's change of plea, the mother of one of the victims of the true ripper expressed her belief that Humble should be punished, telling the BBC "I think it's started off as a hoax but he should have realised he was misdirecting the police and he was causing criminal damage to people." On 21 March 2006, Humble was sentenced to eight years in jail. In July 2006, he launched an appeal against his sentence, which was rejected in October of the same year.
Peter Sutcliffe
Peter William Sutcliffe is a British serial killer who was dubbed "The Yorkshire Ripper". In 1981 Sutcliffe was convicted of murdering 13 women and attacking seven others. He is currently serving 20 sentences of life imprisonment in Broadmoor Hospital...
in the late 1970s. In 2006 he was convicted for perverting the course of justice
Perverting the course of justice
Perverting the course of justice, in English, Canadian , and Irish law, is a criminal offence in which someone prevents justice from being served on himself or on another party...
.
Taunting letters
Over the course of a year between March 1978 and March 1979, Humble sent three letters claiming to be the Yorkshire Ripper. Postmarked from SunderlandCity of Sunderland
The City of Sunderland is a local government district of Tyne and Wear, in North East England, with the status of a city and metropolitan borough...
, two were addressed to George Oldfield
George Oldfield
George Oldfield was a British police detective who finished his career as Assistant Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police. He is known for leading major criminal inquiries by the force, including the M62 coach bombing and the 'Yorkshire Ripper' series of murders...
, the Assistant Chief Constable of the West Yorkshire Police
West Yorkshire Police
West Yorkshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing West Yorkshire in England. It is the fourth largest force in England and Wales by number of officers, with 5671 officers....
who was heading the Ripper inquiry, and one to the Daily Mirror.
First letter: 8 March 1978
Written to George Oldfield
- Dear Sir
- I am sorry I cannot give my name for obvious reasons. I am the Ripper. I've been dubbed a maniac by the Press but not by you, you call me clever and I am. You and your mates haven't a clue that photo in the paper gave me fits and that bit about killing myself, no chance. I've got things to do. My purpose to rid the streets of them sluts. My one regret is that young lassie McDonald, did not know cause changed routine that night. Up to number 8 now you say 7 but remember Preston '75. get about you know. You were right I travel a bit. You probably look for me in Sunderland, don't bother, I am not daft, just posted letter there on one of my trips. Not a bad place compared with Chapeltown and Manningham and other places. Warn whores to keep off streets cause I feel it coming on again.
- Sorry about young lassie.
- Yours respectfully
- Jack the Ripper
- Might write again later I not sure last one really deserved it. Whores getting younger each time. Old slut next time I hope. Huddersfield never again, too small close call last one.
Wearside accent
On 17 June 1979, Humble sent a cassette to Assistant Chief Constable Oldfield, where he introduced himself as Jack and claimed responsibility for the Ripper murders to that point.The cassette ended with a segment from "Thank You for Being a Friend
Thank You for Being a Friend
"Thank You For Being A Friend" is a song written by Andrew Gold, who recorded it for his third album, All This and Heaven Too. The single version reached number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1978....
" by Andrew Gold
Andrew Gold
Andrew Maurice Gold was an American singer, musician and songwriter. His works include the Top 10 single "Lonely Boy" , as well as the singles "Thank You for Being a Friend" , and "Never Let Her Slip Away" ....
. The police focused on Humble's Wearside
Wearside
Wearside is an area of north east England, centred on the continuous urban area formed by Sunderland, Seaham and other settlements by the River Wear. Mackems is a nickname used for the people of Wearside....
accent. Together with voice analysts they decided (based on dialectology
Forensic linguistics
Forensic linguistics is the application of linguistic knowledge, methods and insights to the forensic context of law, language, crime investigation, trial, and judicial procedure. It is a branch of applied linguistics...
) that the accent was distinctive to the Castletown area of Sunderland. This led to 40,000 men being investigated — to no avail as the real killer actually came from Bradford
Bradford
Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...
, approximately 78 miles southwest. Police also commenced a substantial publicity campaign, including
Peter Sutcliffe
Peter Sutcliffe
Peter William Sutcliffe is a British serial killer who was dubbed "The Yorkshire Ripper". In 1981 Sutcliffe was convicted of murdering 13 women and attacking seven others. He is currently serving 20 sentences of life imprisonment in Broadmoor Hospital...
(who actually committed the murders) was interviewed about the murders a total of nine times, both before and after Humble's correspondence, before he finally confessed to the crimes in January 1981. The police concentration on the voice on the tape as a point of elimination rather than as a line of enquiry was one criticism of a notoriously botched police investigation. The satirical magazine Private Eye
Private Eye
Private Eye is a fortnightly British satirical and current affairs magazine, edited by Ian Hislop.Since its first publication in 1961, Private Eye has been a prominent critic and lampooner of public figures and entities that it deemed guilty of any of the sins of incompetence, inefficiency,...
(no. 463 of 14 September 1979) reported under the headline "STOP PRESS: Ripper – 'I'm a woman'" the receipt of "a video cassette in which [the Ripper] claims, in a strong Irish accent, to be the Leader of the Liberal Party".
Hoax revealed
While the West Yorkshire Police were investigating the leads, Sutcliffe was free to continue killing, murdering three more women. It was only after Sutcliffe's confession that Wearside Jack was proven to be a hoax. ACC Oldfield took early retirement following what he considered to be a complete humiliation; he died in 1985.Following Sutcliffe's conviction, the identity of Wearside Jack remained a mystery for over 24 years. On 17 September 2003, the BBC reported that police had decided to call off the search for the hoaxer. Assertions were also made that there were no plans to re-open the case, as too much time had passed and modern forensic tests would most likely be inaccurate due to chemicals used in original testing in the 1970s.
Re-visiting the mystery
A major breakthrough came during 2005 when senior officers from West Yorkshire Police's Homicide and Major Inquiry Team (HMET), headed by Det Chief Supt Chris GreggChris Gregg
Chris Gregg QPM, is a former Detective Chief Superintendent and was head of West Yorkshire Police’s Homicide and Major Enquiry Team . Gregg joined the force in 1974 and as a constable was put on front-line duties in the Yorkshire Ripper inquiry in the Helen Rytka murder incident room...
, decided to review the case. A small piece of the gummed seal from one of the envelopes was located in a forensic laboratory and following publicity about the cold case review the hoax tape was retrieved from a retired scientist who had worked on the original investigation.
As a result of this cold case review, DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
from envelopes sent by Humble as part of the hoax were matched in the United Kingdom National DNA Database with samples police had obtained from Humble in an unrelated incident in 2000, when he had been arrested and cautioned
Police caution
A police caution is a formal alternative to prosecution in minor cases, administered by the police and other law enforcement agencies in England and Wales, and in Hong Kong...
for being drunk and disorderly. By this time Humble had become an alcoholic loner.
Humble, of Ford Estate
Ford Estate
Ford Estate is a suburb in Sunderland. The suburb is divided into two areas: High Ford borders the run-down estate of Pennywell and like its neighbour, has many of its houses boarded up, ready for redevelopment or reconstruction...
in Sunderland, was arrested on 20 October 2005, and charged with four counts of perverting the course of justice
Perverting the course of justice
Perverting the course of justice, in English, Canadian , and Irish law, is a criminal offence in which someone prevents justice from being served on himself or on another party...
. Upon his arrest, Humble had been so drunk that police had to wait several hours before he was considered sober enough to be interviewed. Humble admitted responsibility for the letters and the cassette, but denied perverting the course of justice, and his legal team pushed in vain for a lesser charge of wasting police time.
At times during police interviews Humble appeared ashamed of what he had done, referring to the acts as evil although not being able to explain why they were evil. He revealed that the motive for his crime was a quest for notoriety, although a BBC documentary later suggested he had a hatred of the police dating back to 1975 when he was imprisoned for assaulting a police officer. Humble laughed at several points during the interview, including when asked about the tune played at the end of the tape. During the interviews he also claimed not to have told any other individual he was a hoaxer, and that he did not realise the impact his actions were having on the police investigation.
Humble also confirmed to police that he had used library books as a source of inspiration for his letters and tape. He confirmed he had attended school in the Castletown area of Sunderland, and that he had panicked as police interviewed men in that area. It was also revealed that his neighbours had been interviewed by police searching for Wearside Jack, but he had not.
Trial and conviction
Humble was tried at Leeds Crown CourtLeeds Crown Court
Leeds Crown Court is the highest court in West Yorkshire, England. The buildings are situated in Westgate in Leeds city centre, adjacent to Leeds magistrates courts.-Notable cases:...
on 9 January 2006, and initially pleaded not guilty. He admitted to being Wearside Jack on 23 February 2006, and on 20 March 2006, changed his plea to guilty on four counts of perverting the course of justice.
During the trial, his defence barristers reported he had attempted suicide on a number of occasions, including one occasion shortly after the tape was made public. The defence also claimed he had lived an "inadequate life", and had been driven by guilt to alcoholism. Despite this, Humble did not contact the police voluntarily to acknowledge his guilt, even when it was obvious his tapes and letters were diverting police resources away from the real ripper. A BBC documentary broadcast on 27 March 2006 reported that Humble had telephoned the incident room and informed them that the tape was a hoax. Although key individuals in the investigation were convinced that this caller was the hoaxer, it was officially discounted.
After hearing Humble's change of plea, the mother of one of the victims of the true ripper expressed her belief that Humble should be punished, telling the BBC "I think it's started off as a hoax but he should have realised he was misdirecting the police and he was causing criminal damage to people." On 21 March 2006, Humble was sentenced to eight years in jail. In July 2006, he launched an appeal against his sentence, which was rejected in October of the same year.
Release
On 5 September 2009 the Daily Mail Online ran a story "Yorkshire Ripper hoaxer Wearside Jack to be freed from prison next month". No follow-up has been published.External links
- Northeast history
- Man admits to 'Ripper' tape hoax
- Telegraph Article related to sentencing and trial
- Transcripts and images of Humble's letters
- A BBC reporter gives an account of how the Police were misled by Wearside Jack (Video Interview)
See also
- Chris GreggChris GreggChris Gregg QPM, is a former Detective Chief Superintendent and was head of West Yorkshire Police’s Homicide and Major Enquiry Team . Gregg joined the force in 1974 and as a constable was put on front-line duties in the Yorkshire Ripper inquiry in the Helen Rytka murder incident room...