A MAN accused of being the Yorkshire Ripper hoaxer known as Wearside Jack is to face trial after denying perverting the course of justice.

John Samuel Humble, 50, of Flodden Road, Sunderland, was charged in connection with letters and an audio tape sent to West Yorkshire Police during the hunt for Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe.

Mr Humble, a former labourer and window cleaner, yesterday appeared at Leeds Crown Court and pleaded not guilty to four counts of perverting the course of justice.

The charges relate to two letters sent to the officer in charge of the Ripper investigation, Assistant Chief Constable George Oldfield, in March 1978 and March 1979, and a third that was sent to the editor of the Daily Mirror newspaper.

An audio tape was also sent to Mr Oldfield on June 18, 1979, which was then played to the public by detectives.

The tape, beginning "I'm Jack", claimed to be from the murderer and taunted the police for not catching him.

A police search was concentrated on the Castletown area of Sunderland after senior officers were fooled into believing the Wearside voice on the tape was the murderer.

But the letters and tape were exposed as a hoax when Sutcliffe was arrested in 1981. But in the meantime, three more women had been killed.

Sutcliffe, now 59, from Bradford, West Yorkshire, was later jailed for life for murdering 13 women.

Richard Hebbet, prosecuting, said Mr Humble's trial was listed for March 20 and could last up to three weeks.

He said the prosecution's evidence would include handwriting evidence, voice analysis in relation to the defendant, fingerprint, blood and DNA evidence.

David Taylor, for Mr Humble, described the case as "one of the greatest unsolved crimes of the 21st Century".

He said the defence intended to employ handwriting and voice recognition experts.

The case was adjourned by the Recorder of Leeds, Judge Norman Jones, who remanded Mr Humble in custody.