Former labourer John Humble, who has admitted being the infamous Yorkshire Ripper hoaxer known as Wearside Jack, pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice at Leeds Crown Court today.

Humble was arrested at his home, in Flodden Road, Sunderland, on October 18, following a cold-case review of the hoax investigation.

The 50-year-old former labourer admits writing letters and making a tape sent to detectives hunting the Yorkshire Ripper almost three decades ago.

The charges relate to each of the three letters and the audio tape that taunted detectives involved in the Ripper inquiry, in West Yorkshire, in the late 1970s.

A huge police effort was concentrated on the Sunderland area after senior officers concluded the Wearside voice on the tape was the murderer.

But they were exposed as a hoax when Peter Sutcliffe was arrested in 1981 and confessed to being the Ripper.