Family ‘cheated of justice’ as child killer dies of heart attack
THE child killer dubbed the Beast Of Wombwell died just four days after being convicted of a rape dating back to 1972, an inquest heard yesterday.
And police confirmed they were ready to charge him with the murder of another girl.
Peter Pickering, 80, was jailed for more than 45 years after killing 14-year-old Shirley Boldy in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, in 1972.
When he died he was awaiting sentence for raping an 18-yearold woman, who is now in her 60s. West Yorkshire Police said he was also expected to be charged with the murder of 14-year-old Elsie Frost, whose body was found in Wakefield in 1965.
Frustration
Now Elsie’s brother Colin said the family felt they had been “cheated” of justice.
Speaking after Pickering’s death, Colin, who pushed with his sister Anne Cleave for the re-investigation of the case three years ago, said: “It’s just an incredible feeling of frustration now. The man was such a nasty piece of work.”
An inquest at Reading Town Hall heard Pickering died after suffering a heart attack at a secure psychiatric unit.
Pickering was held under a hospital order after he admitted Shirley’s manslaughter by diminished responsibility.
She was bundled into Pickering’s van as she returned to Wombwell High School near Barnsley.
He drove to a secluded location where he tied her up, raped her and stabbed her to death.
That killing came just weeks after he abducted and violently raped the 18-year-old woman in the same area.
Last month the victim described to a jury how Pickering told her she was going to die. She called him a “monster”. He was convicted at Leeds Crown Court of rape and false imprisonment over the attack, which came to light through the re-investigation of the murder of Elsie Frost.
Elsie was stabbed as she walked through a railway tunnel in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, in October 1965.
As part of the inquiry detectives found a garage he rented containing handcuffs and exercise books. In one he wrote: “Sex is predominant in my mind, maybe I will be a sex maniac proper. Rape, torture, kill.”
Berkshire coroner Peter Bedford heard Pickering died at Thornford Park Hospital, in Berkshire, on March 25.
He said: “Although that is a natural cause of death, because Mr Pickering is a detained patient I am obliged to have an inquest.”
He adjourned the full inquest until June 18.