The leader of a sinister paedo gang called the “Dirty Dozen” could be back on the streets in months, if his 11th bid for parole is successful.
Paedophile and serial killer Sidney Cooke is, at 95, now one of Britain’s oldest prisoners.
Cooke’s evil paedo ring was implicated in the sexually-motivated murders of up to twenty young boys in the 1970s and 1980s.
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In November 1985, a group led by Cooke each paid £5 to gang rape 14-year-old Jason Swift in a “filthy” flat the gang kept for the purpose on the Kingsmead estate in Hackney, east London. The teenager’s body was later found was found in a shallow grave on the outskirts of the capital.
Cooke, initially accused of Jason's murder, was jailed for 19 years in 1989 on a charge of manslaughter .
He later managed to get the sentence reduced to 16 years on appeal, and despite the fact that he admitted that he might re-offend if he was freed after serving just nine years in 1998.
He was arrested again on January 26, 1999, after a grim catalogue of previously undiscovered offences was revealed in a Channel 4 documentary.
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Cooke has handed two life sentences in December 1999, with Judge David Poole telling him that he would only be considered for release after he had served a minimum of five years in prison and if the parole board could be satisfied he was not a danger to the public.
NSPCC director Jim Harding said at the time: “The children who were abused by Sidney Cooke suffered some of the vilest and cruellest sex offences imaginable,” adding “He should never have been freed after serving his last sentence”.
But Cooke, known as “Hissing Sid,” has launched a new bid for freedom and expected to appear in front of a parole board on May 3, The Sun reports.
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Cooke has already made 10 unsuccessful bids for freedom, and has served an additional 17 years over his minimum tariff.
The parole board will review “any evidence of behaviour change” on Cooke’s part, and assess “what risk he presents” if released.
A Parole Board spokesman said: "An oral hearing has been listed for the parole review of Sidney Cooke and is scheduled to take place in May 2023.
“Parole Board decisions are solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public if released and whether that risk is manageable in the community.
“A panel will carefully examine a huge range of evidence, including details of the original crime, and any evidence of behaviour change, as well as explore the harm done and impact the crime has had on the victims”.
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