Sidney Cooke (also known as Hissing Sid)[1], (born 18 April 1927) is an English convicted child molester serving two life sentences.
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Along with three accomplices – Leslie Bailey, Robert Oliver[2] and Lennie Smith – Cooke was sentenced to 19 years in prison in May 1989 for the manslaughter of 14-year-old Jason Swift. The gang, led by Cooke, gang-raped Swift in what the mainstream media described as a homosexual orgy,[3] in November 1985.
Leslie Bailey had informed authorities that Cooke was among those who murdered seven-year-old Mark Tildesley in Wokingham, Berkshire, but 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.[4] Tildesley disappeared while visiting a funfair in Wokingham on the evening of 1 June 1984. He was lured away from the fair and his bicycle was found chained to railings nearby. In 1991, the Crown Prosecution Service declined to prosecute Cooke for Mark Tildesley's murder as he was already in prison for the manslaughter of Jason Swift.
Cooke's sentence 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.[5]
Cooke's parole caused huge public outrage. This was exacerbated by a plan to move him to a hostel near two schools,[6][7] and Cooke himself admitted that he might re-offend; while in prison, he refused to take part in rehabilitation sessions.[8]
Police refused to disclose the location where he was to be moved,[9] smuggling him out of jail to avoid a vigil for his victims.[8] 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, but on 26 January 1999, he was again arrested and charged with committing 18 sex offences which occurred between 1972 and 1981. 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 reported on in the Channel 4 documentary Dispatches.[10][11]
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.[11] As a defence for his crimes, Cooke claimed to have himself been sexually abused as a child.
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.[12] He is still behind bars today for these offences, even though the five-year minimum sentence has elapsed.
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 who are hated by everyone in Wakefield prison, are said to be inseparable. One insider said: "It's almost a perfect match - two sickos getting together to form some kind of twisted bond."[1]
Mockumentary Brass Eye did a skit in which Chris Morris pretended that Cooke had been sent into space to keep him away from children. Prior to the launch, an eight-year-old boy was placed on board with Cooke by mistake.[13]