Sidney Cooke, 96, should be quizzed about string of unsolved child murders, says ex-detective
A former detective has urged officers to quiz convicted killer Sidney Cooke about a string of unsolved murders before he dies.
Ex-detective David Bright wants Sidney Cooke, 96, to be questioned over unsolved cases as he makes a fresh bid for freedom, having been denied release 10 times previously.
Cooke, from Hackney, east London, remains in maximum security jail Wakefield Prison, West Yorkshire, despite having completed his minimum term 19 years ago. He was convicted of manslaughter in 1989 over the death of 14-year-old Jason Swift.
Leslie Bailey, Robert Oliver and Steven Barrell were also jailed in 1989 for Jason’s murder.
Cooke was also named in court as the leader of a pedophile ring, which was linked to the death of Mark Tildesley, seven, who went missing in 1984. His remains have never been found.
Cooke (pictured) was convicted of manslaughter in 1989 over the death of 14-year-old Jason Swift
In July 1985, Jason Swift (pictured) disappeared from the same Hackney estate where Cooke, a former fairground worker, lived. He was found the following year on a farm in Ongar, Essex.
Cook and his gang are suspected of the abduction and killing of 17 boys in the 70s and 80s. Many of these remain unsolved.
Mr Bright, who does not believe Cooke should be freed from prison, claims Cooke’s age could prompt him to ‘clear his conscience’.
‘There are other children hidden in graves around the country that could have been the result of Cooke and his former cronies,’ Mr Bright, a former Essex Police officer told The Mirror.
‘At 96 and with all but two gang members dead, he might want to clear his conscience and tell all’.
He added that the police have nothing to lose ‘when there’s the opportunity of bringing a degree of comfort to families who don’t know where their children are’.
Mr Bright was the detective who got Cooke to confess to Jason’s killing.
‘His admissions eventually led to him going down on his knees where he clasped my hands and finally admitted everything,’ he said.
Mark Tildesley went missing after going to a local funfair in Wokingham on June 1, 1984
Cooke, from Hackney, east London, remains in maximum security jail Wakefield Prison, West Yorkshire (pictured) despite having completed his minimum term 19 years ago
Despite many cases remaining unsolved, some have been linked.
Mark Tildesley went missing after going to a local funfair in Wokingham on June 1, 1984. In July 1985, Jason Swift disappeared from the same Hackney estate where Cooke, a former fairground worker, lived.
He was found the following year on a farm in Ongar, Essex.
Just a week later, the remains of Barry Lewis, six, from Walworth, south London, were found a few miles away.
They had both been drugged, sexually abused, and asphyxiated. It is thought the deaths are linked.
Cooke was released from prison in 1998, but just a year later, he was jailed for life with a minimum of five years for historical abuse.