An unemployed labourer who has admitted being the notorious Yorkshire Ripper hoaxer known as Wearside Jack was jailed for eight years today by a British court.
John Humble (50), of Flodden Road, Sunderland, admitted four counts of perverting the course of justice at Leeds Crown Court yesterday.
The charges related to three letters and a tape Humble sent in the late 1970s in which he claimed to be the Ripper and taunted detectives.
Leeds Crown Court heard the hoax sent the whole Ripper inquiry in the wrong direction as senior detectives believed the distinctive Sunderland accent on the tape belonged to the real murderer.
Humble, of Flodden Road, Sunderland, was arrested after state-of-the-art forensic techniques matched his DNA with a sample found on one of the envelopes used to post one of the letters.
He told police he knew what he had done was wrong because it was "evil" and that he felt guilty when another woman was murdered after police revealed they were treating his letters and tape seriously.
The court heard also how Humble made two brief attempts to alert police about the hoax in 1979.
Yesterday, the court heard Humble told police he was probably drunk when he posted the letters and the tape after becoming fascinated with the 19th century murderer known as Jack The Ripper.