Family ‘cheated’ by child killer’s death
CRIME:
A child killer dubbed the Beast of Wombwell died after suffering a heart attack at a secure psychiatric unit, an inquest has heard.
Peter Pickering, 80, was expected to be charged with the murder of 14-year-old Elsie Frost in 1965 – and her brother said the family felt they had been “cheated” out of justice.
A CHILD killer dubbed the Beast of Wombwell died after suffering a heart attack at a secure psychiatric unit, an inquest has heard.
Peter Pickering, 80, had been locked up for more than 45 years after killing 14-year-old Shirley Boldy in the Barnsley area in 1972.
Announcing his death, West Yorkshire Police confirmed he was expected to be charged with the murder of another 14-yearold, Elsie Frost, whose body was found in Wakefield in 1965.
Her brother Colin said the family felt they had been “cheated” out of justice and believed Pickering could be responsible for other murders.
The sex attacker was also awaiting sentence for raping an 18-year-old woman, who is now in her 60s, a few weeks prior to Shirley’s abduction.
An inquest at Reading Town Hall heard Pickering died at Thornford Park Hospital in Berkshire on March 25. The senior coroner for Berkshire, Peter Bedford, said Pickering was taken ill and an amulance called, adding: “Despite CPR being administered he passed away in Thornford Park Hospital itself.”
The coroner said a post-mortem exam found Pickering had died from a retroperitoneal haemorrhage due to a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm. It also showed he was suffering from heart disease.
Mr Bedford 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 to June 18.
Pickering had been held under a hospital order made by a judge in 1972 after he admitted Shirley’s manslaughter. She was bundled into Pickering’s van as she was returning to Wombwell High School.
Pickering drove her to a secluded location where he tied her up and raped her.
He tried to strangle her before stabbing her to death, a crime witnessed by walkers who were too far away to intervene.
Pickering killed Shirley just three or four weeks after he abducted and violently raped the 18-year-old woman in the Barnsley area.
Last month, the victim described to a jury how Pickering had told her she was going to die. She called him a “monster”.
Pickering was convicted at Leeds Crown Court of rape and false imprisonment over the attack, which only came to light through the reinvestigation 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 looked back through Pickering’s conversations with psychiatrists and also found a storage garage he rented in the Owlerton area of Sheffield containing possessions including handcuffs and exercise books filled with his rantings.
Speaking after Pickering’s death, Elsie’s brother, who pushed for the reinvestigation of the case three years ago along with his sister Anne Cleave, said: “It’s just an incredible feeling of frustration now.”
He said the police had done a “fantastic job” but criticised the length of time prosecutors had taken to decide on a charge.
Mr Frost said: “They uncovered a monster. The man was such a nasty, nasty piece of work.” Asked if he believed Pickering could have killed others, he said: “I think there’s every likelihood.”
Pickering had convictions for sex offences dating back to the very early 1960s and was in prison from 1966 to early 1972 for a violent sex attack on a teenager.
It’s just an incredible feeling of frustration now. Colin Frost, brother of Elsie, thought to have been murdered by the late Peter Pickering.