Wearside Jack was John Samuel Humble, the man who sent the fake letters and tape that misled police during the Yorkshire Ripper investigation; he was later exposed, convicted in 2006, and died on 30 July 2019.

What happened

  • He pretended to be the Yorkshire Ripper in 1978–79, using a Wearside accent in the recording.
  • Police initially believed the hoax and diverted major resources toward Sunderland, which helped throw the investigation off course.
  • In 2005, DNA evidence linked him to the hoax, and he was arrested and later admitted perverting the course of justice.
  • He received an eight-year prison sentence in 2006.
  • He died in 2019, and Northumbria Police confirmed his death.

Why he is still remembered

His hoax is remembered because it helped delay the real investigation and is widely seen as one of the most damaging police misdirections in British crime history.

In one line

Wearside Jack was not the Ripper himself; he was the hoaxer John Humble, later convicted and imprisoned, who died in 2019.