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Paedophile killer gets police asylum

Although a free man, Cooke will be monitored 24 hours a day. If he fails to co-operate with police, his whereabouts will be released to the public, a senior Metropolitan officer said.

Cooke will stay at the police station until a place at a secure unit can be found for him, when he will be electronically tagged.

Cooke, 70, served nine years of a 16-year sentence for the manslaughter of a 14-year-old boy.

Police commander Michael Craik said Cooke's release had been "carefully managed to minimise the risk he presents to vulnerable members of the public".

He added: "Mr Cooke is clearly aware of the position he is in in terms of the media and public image of him, and he has agreed to voluntary supervision.

"He is also clearly aware that if his actions make it necessary, police will not hesitate to disclose his identity and whereabouts in order to protect the public."

Secret location

Details of the specific whereabouts of Cooke are being kept secret for his own safety.

The Home Secretary, Jack Straw, warned people not to take the law into their own hands after Cooke was released from jail.

"There is no need for people to take the law into their own hands. Indeed, vigilante action will make the situation worse for the police fear it may drive paedophiles underground, where they could pose a greater danger to children," he said.

Following the release of Cooke, the government is coming under public pressure to review the law.

Mr Straw said the government was considering new measures to lock up sex offenders indefinitely.

He has commissioned a joint Home Office and Department of Health study into the need for further provisions to deal with "dangerous personality-disordered offenders" such as paedophiles.

Cooke was smuggled out of Wandsworth jail to an unnamed institution on Saturday night to avoid a confrontation with protesters who joined a vigil angry at his release. He was released on Monday morning.

Refused to undergo treatment

Cooke, who refused to undergo treatment in jail, has admitted he may offend again and has agreed to wear an electronic tagging device.

The White Ribbon campaign for Justice for Children wants the Crown Prosecution Service to explain why Oliver, Cooke, Lennie Smith and Leslie Bailey - who was murdered in Whitemoor jail by a fellow inmate - were never charged with murder.

A murder conviction would have automatically led to a life sentence.

Bailey later implicated the pair in the murder of two other boys, Mark Tildesley and Barry Lewis, but they were never charged.

Kate Lowes, who runs the group Stop Paedophiles Exploiting and Abusing Kids (Speak), says: "By releasing this evil monster the government are playing roulette with another child's life.

"The children that were murdered will never walk free and realise their potential - their families serve a life sentence with no chance of an appeal or reprieve. Why should Cooke get any less?"

Cooke is one of a number of sex offenders who fall through a loophole in the law, and has the right to be released without supervision, even though probation officers consider him "dangerous and predatory".

Relevant Stories

Fleet Street goes hunting for released paedophile (06 Apr 98 | UK)
Child killer agrees to tagging (04 Apr 98 | UK)
'Paedophile' protesters arrested (17 Mar 98 | UK)
Fears over release of paedophiles (13 Mar 98 | UK)

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