Sidney Cooke

Sidney Cooke
Born (1927-04-18) 18 April 1927
Stroud, Gloucestershire, England
Nationality British
Other names Hissing Sid
Occupation Farm labourer, Fairground worker
Criminal penalty 2 x life sentences
Motive Paedophilia
Killings
Date 1960s–1980s
Location(s) Hackney, East London and other parts of England
Target(s) Young boys
Killed Jason Swift
Weapons Drugs, gang-rape

Sidney Cooke (born 18 April 1927) is an English convicted child molester and suspected serial killer serving two life sentences.

Nicknamed Hissing Sid,[1] he was described by The Guardian newspaper in 1999 as "Britain's most notorious paedophile".[2]

Early life

Cooke was born in Stroud, Gloucestershire.[3] After working as a farm labourer, he found a job as a fairground worker by the 1960s, which allowed him to travel around the UK easily .[1][4] As part of his system to lure in young boys, Cooke set up a child's version of the "Test Your Strength" amusement.[4]

"Dirty Dozen"

In the 1970s, Cooke and a group of paedophiles later dubbed by the media as the "Dirty Dozen",[1] began hiring rent boys and then taking young boys off the streets, who then were drugged and then raped and abused in group orgies.[4] By the mid-1980s, the group had acquired a flat on the Kingsmead estate in Hackney, East London,[4] which was also used for the torture of young boys.[1]

Gang rape and murder of Jason Swift

In November 1985, a group led by Cooke had each paid £5 to gang-rape 14-year-old Jason Swift in what the media described as a homosexual orgy.[4][5] After his body was found in a shallow grave by a dog walker, an investigation by the Metropolitan Police led to the arrest of Cooke, along with three accomplices – Leslie Bailey, Robert Oliver[6] and Steven Barrell. Cooke was sentenced at the Old Bailey to 19 years in Wandsworth Prison in May 1989 for the manslaughter of Swift.[4]

Murder of Mark Tildesley

Leslie Bailey had informed authorities that Cooke was among those who murdered 7-year-old Mark Tildesley in Wokingham, Berkshire. Tildesley disappeared while visiting a funfair in Wokingham on the evening of 1 June 1984. Bailey alleged that Tildesley was lured away from the fair by Cooke for the promise of a 50p bag of sweets. His bicycle was found chained to railings nearby.[4] Cooke's role in the murder was not investigated until 1999; by this time, Bailey was dead, having been murdered in prison in October 1993.[7] In 1991, the Crown Prosecution Service declined to prosecute Cooke for Tildesley's murder as he was already in prison for the manslaughter of Swift. Cooke has indicated he knows where Tildesley's body is buried, but refuses to tell the police, or the boy's family, the exact location.[4]

Appeal and parole

Cooke's sentence for the murder of Swift was reduced to 16 years on appeal in 1989, and he was paroled nine years later in April 1998. He told an appeals court that Bailey was the ringleader of the gang, who are believed to have killed at least nine victims.[8]

Cooke's parole caused huge public outrage. This was exacerbated by a plan to move him to a hostel near two schools,[9][10] and Cooke himself admitted that he might re-offend; while in prison, he refused to take part in rehabilitation sessions.[11]

Police refused to disclose the location where he was to be moved,[12] smuggling him out of jail to avoid a vigil for his victims.[11] There were several demonstrations against Cooke's release. As the police feared for his safety, he was forced to live in a suite of cells at Yeovil Police station.

1970s offences, re-arrest

Following an investigation by the Channel 4 documentary programme Dispatches,[4] Thames Valley Police began the reinvestigation of a series of rape and other serious sexual offences against young boys.[4]

On 26 January 1999, Cooke was again arrested by Thames Valley Police, and charged at Reading police station with committing 18 sex offences which occurred between 1972 and 1981.[4] These included repeated abuse and assault of two brothers and the rape of a young woman. Many of the offences had come to public attention after they were disclosed in the Channel 4 documentary.[13][14]

At his trial on 5 October 1999, Cooke pleaded guilty to sexually abusing the two brothers on 10 occasions in 1972 and 1973. He admitted to having carried out five counts of indecent assault and five counts of buggery but denied the remaining eight charges, which were four counts of rape, three further counts of indecent assault, and one of buggery, that occurred in 1981. These were abandoned by the judge, who ordered them to lie on file.[14] As a defence for his crimes, Cooke claimed to have himself been sexually abused as a child.

Following Cooke's sentencing, NSPCC director Jim Harding said:[4]

“ The children who were abused by Sidney Cooke suffered some of the vilest and cruelest sex offences imaginable. He should never have been freed after serving his last sentence. We sincerely hope he will never be given the opportunity to hurt another child again. ”

Present: Wakefield Prison

On 17 December 1999, Cooke received two life sentences, and the judge told Cooke that he would only be considered for release after he had served a five-year jail sentence.[15] He has remained incarcerated since.

Cooke has since suffered a stroke while in prison, and has been provided with a specially adapted mechanical bed due to his impaired mobility.[1]

While in prison, Cooke has struck a friendship with a fellow paedophile dubbed "Britain's Josef Fritzl." The pair are reported to be hated by everyone in Wakefield prison, but are said to be inseparable.[1]

See also

References

External links

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