At 94, Sidney Cooke—Britain’s most notorious pedophile and sex offender— hopes to be finally free. He was sentenced to life in prison after having been convicted for a catalog of sex attacks on two young brothers while working for the fairground, roughly about 30 years ago, where he was briefly employed.
According to Mirror Cooke will launch a new attempt to get parole in the coming week on the grounds of advanced age and serious illnesses. The disgraced offender, and one of the country’s oldest prisoners, was jailed in the year 1999 to serve at least five years and has remained in Wakefield prison ever since.
Things took an expected turn during the 1999 trial at Manchester Crown Court, when Cooke changed his plea to guilty and admitted 10 offenses against the youngsters. He subsequently received two life sentences upon confession in court, Daily Mail reported.
Past records indicate Cooke aka ‘Hissing Sid’ also raped a young woman.
This attempt marks Cooke’s tenth attempt at procuring bail. He was rejected nine times previously. While the verdict from a Parole Board panel will be revealed later this month, sources allege that old age isn’t strong enough a reason to back the perception that Cooke would no longer be a danger to the public.
The last time Cooke was set free from prison in 1998, it sparked public outrage. He was reportedly compelled to wear an electronic tag and had to observe voluntary custody for his own safety.
History is laden with instances of Cooke being jailed for crimes of different kinds. He was jailed for 16 years in the year 1989 for the homicide of Jason Swift, a 14-year-old boy, whose corpse was found in an Essex field. Cooke was set free for a brief period until he was put behind bars again in 1999.
Credible sources have cited that Cooke happens to belong to one of the deadliest crime gangs in Britain, which goes by the title, "Dirty Dozen". The gang has been linked to a series of heinous unsolved crimes. Police hinted at a strong possibility of the gang being accountable for 17 other abductions and murders.
Retired detective David Bright openly stated in the year 2017 that he feared children were being hidden in graves “around the country” due to Cooke and others, according to Wales Online.
