First published on Tuesday 21 November 2000:
Prison for detective who nailed ripper
by Joanne Earp
The detective who extracted a confession from Yorkshire Ripper, Peter Sutcliffe, was behind bars today.
Retired West Yorkshire Police Inspector John Boyle was jailed for six months after admitting conspiracy charges.
He had been involved in a chain which saw secret police information passed on for bottles of spirits and cash.
Passing sentence at Leeds Crown Court yesterday, Judge Stephen Gullick, told Boyle it was a “total tragedy” that at his age and with 31 years distinguished police service he now found himself in the dock.
He said: “You are regarded by fellow officers as a model of professionalism, integrity and loyalty. You gave a lifetime of service which now, regrettably, has been thrown away.”
Boyle, who left the force in 1988 as an Inspector, was a member of the Ripper investigation team and the officer to whom Sutcliffe eventually confessed.
The court heard how Boyle was working as a private investigator in Bradford in 1998 when he became the link in a chain of illegal information.
The 64-year-old, of Whitehall Road, Wyke, Bradford, asked Wakefield-based police officer PC James Burrell to carry out checks on the Police National Computer (PNC). Boyle supplied vehicle registration numbers in return for personal details about the owner. He also requested information from the Criminal Record Office – which holds personal details on individual criminals, victims and witnesses.
Boyle then sold the information for £20 a time to Javed Mahmood Butt, his boss at JMB investigating agency in Bradford.
The court heard how Butt, 36, of Sorrin Close, Idle, Bradford, sold the information to the last man in the chain – Manchester-based investigating agency boss Nitin Kumar Patel.
All four pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office. Butt was jailed for four months, Burrell 15 months and Patel two months.
A police investigation revealed that between January 1998 and January 1999 Burrell carried out 121 unauthorised checks on vehicles and 32 checks on individuals. The court heard the former PC, who resigned from his post earlier this month, passed the information onto Boyle in return for bottles of spirits.
In January 1998 an undercover police officer, known as Micky, visited Patel posing as a criminal wanting information.
Prosecuting, Richard Newbury, said: “Patel told Micky he’d done work for armed robbers and explained he had two police officers on the pay role – who he described as `bent’.”
An undercover police officer from Bradford, known as Mike, also visited the JMB office in Peckover Street, Bradford, and spoke to Butt.
He told Butt he was trying to find a man who owed him ?20,000 and gave him a registration number. Butt phoned Boyle, who passed on the details to Burrell, and within an hour information from the PNC check was given to the undercover officer.
From then on the Chief and Assistant Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police authorised Burrell’s office phone to be tapped.
In November, 1999 Boyle phoned Burrell and told him he had a job from a team in London who were wanting to trace a West Indian prisoner. Mr Newbury said Boyle told Burrell he thought the clients wanted information to “get stuck into the guy”.
In return for a name and date of birth details were given about which prison he was in and for how long, previous convictions and the name of the arresting officer.
In January 1999 all four men were arrested. A book was recovered from the offices of JMB listing car registration numbers supplied and details obtained by Boyle.
Detectives interviewed some of the people checked out by Boyle. The court heard how some had suddenly found themselves being followed by ex-partners.
Mr Newbury said: “One lady had been the victim of an argument in a supermarket car park. A while after she received intimidating visits from strangers attempting to influence her from giving evidence in a subsequent court case.”
Mitigating, Roger Thomas QC, said Boyle felt shattered when he discovered the information he had passed on was for “low key” domestic matters. Mr Newbury said: “He has become something of a recluse…because of the real shame he has genuinely felt.”
Speaking after the case, Detective Chief Superintendent Brian Taylor, said: “We take allegations of this nature, where information has been leaked, very seriously.”
