Sidney Cooke

Sidney Cooke (also known as Hissing Sid),^[1] (born 18 April 1927) is an English convicted child molester serving two life sentences. He is described by The Guardian as "Britain's most notorious paedophile".^[2]

Early life

Cooke was born in Stroud, Gloucestershire^[3] but after working as a farm labourer had found a job as a fairground worker by the 1960s, which allowed him to easily travel the UK.^[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 of the streets, who were drugged and then raped and abused at 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 mainstream 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 lead 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 14-year-old Jason Swift.^[4]

Murder of Mark Tildesley

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.^[7]

Mark 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.^[4] Bailey alleged that Tildesley was lured away from the fair by Cooke for the promise of a 50p bag of sweets.^[4] Bailey and his lover, Lennie Smith, then met Cooke and the boy within the fair, before meeting a fourth man at Cooke's caravan. After Cooke gave Tildesley a glass of milk laced with muscle relaxant, the four men practised non-consensual anal intercourse with Tildesley. After more muscle relaxant was applied directly down Tildesley's throat, the gang rape started again. Bailey stated that he knew that at this point that Tildesley was dead as he could not feel a pulse, but that Cooke had told him that he was fine and that he would take the boy home.^[4][8]

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 parents, the exact location.^[4] In 2008, Cooke's former lover and cellmate, on-the-run convicted paedophile David Patrick, claimed to know where Cooke had buried Tildesley, which he would reveal for the sum of £3,000. Police later dismissed the claim as false, and simply trying to extort cash at the expense of Tildesley's mother.^[9]

Appeal and parole

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.^[10]

Cooke's parole caused huge public outrage. This was exacerbated by a plan to move him to a hostel near two schools,^[11][12] and Cooke himself admitted that he might re-offend; while in prison, he refused to take part in rehabilitation sessions.^[13]

Police refused to disclose the location where he was to be moved,^[14] smuggling him out of jail to avoid a vigil for his victims.^[13] 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 reported on in the Channel 4 documentary.^[15][16]

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.^[16] 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]

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.^[17] 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 who are hated by everyone in Wakefield prison, but 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]

In popular culture

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.^[18]

See Also

• Child sexual abuse in United Kingdom

References

External links

• Cooke: The predatory paedophile from BBC News
• Protests and riots over Cooke from BBC News