Arson Special : Mini Episode
Hello and welcome to this week’s episode of Wives and Knives a true crime podcast with your hosts Dani & Kelly.
This week much like the weather this case is a hot one! Sadly not in a good way though just in an asshole arsonist kind of way, two asshole arsonists actually!
Dani talks about Daniel Jones who set a house in Stanley, Wakefield, alight in October 2016 in a bid to destroy CCTV evidence of a nearby break-in.
And I take you through the case of Peter Dinsdale, The British Serial Arsonist and Serial Killer you’ve never heard of.
Please remember that we mean no disrespect to anyone mentioned in this episode, or across any of the Wives and Knives platforms.
We have an interest in true crime and related topics and whilst we may offer our own personal views on certain items it is meant to be educational and as light-hearted as possible. The information we present is collated from research gathered from the internet and we reference and credit our sources wherever possible.
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As I am writing this, I am slowly recovering from a bout of food poisoning, I’ve narrowed the suspects down to a chocolate éclair or a bit of milk on the turn. Holy Green Guacamole – I have never been so ill where alcohol hasn’t been involved; genuinely like the worlds worst hangover and I still feel like shit 48 hours later. Death by Dairy.
Dani is off on her Jollies this week so I hope the weather keeps nice for her, no doubt she will fill us all in on her adventures when she gets back.
So onto business and this weeks episode.
A big thank you as always to Seeing Red, for recommending us once again, this time it was to Conversations to die for and their small podcast Sunday. I have been in touch to say thank you for including us and we are hoping to possibly work with Conversations to die for in the future for an episode. Share the love and share the recommends I say.
Anyway… Lots happening in the true crime world at the moment.
Colin Pitchfork’s controversial release. He was jailed for life in January 1988 for raping and murdering 15-year-olds Lynda Mann in 1983 & Dawn Ashworth in 1986, in Leicestershire, England.
Pitchfork was the first murderer convicted on DNA evidence, and he had been recently denied parole back in 2018 but now it’s been authorised. The parole board apparently say his behaviour has been positive and he often helps others.
when he was sentenced to life originally the judge said the killings were "particularly sadistic" and he doubted Pitchfork would ever be released. I think it’s quite disrespectful to the girls and their families. He’s 61 years old. I don’t think it’s right.
This week we decided to cover some cases we’d both been interested by and when we got chatting about them realised that they both had the shared theme of arson.
(By D)
Did you know that arson is still the largest cause of fire in England and Wales and costs the economy 2.53 billion a year? I grew up with a fire fighter in my family and I was always very aware of how dangerous it can be and how quickly it can spread the thought of being trapped in a burning building is truly horrific. The tale of arson that I have to share with you today is no exception. I first heard about this case on the Seeing Red podcast last year and it’s really stuck with me.
It’s 2016 in west Yorkshire and I'm going to tell you about two acquaintances Daniel Jones, 29, and Ben Kaye.
Daniel Jones was in debt and a gambling addict he knew that Ben was away and decided to break into his house and take what he could which was a small safe containing £850 pounds and a small amount of ketamine.
Essentially these two were friends and Daniel never wanted Ben to know that he was the perpetrator.
When Ben returned to find he had been robbed understandably Hes going to be pissed but given the items missing he wasn’t going to tell the police, however this didn’t stop him conducting his own investigations.
He mentioned, whilst in the company of Daniel that he thought whoever had broken into his property might have been captured on the cctv that belonged to a house across the road.
Daniel was already concerned that Ben was suspicious of him, and he worried that is Ben was to get access to the cctv he would see the van that Daniel had used. He had actually used his work van and it would be easy to trace that back to Daniel. So, Daniel is told that the family that like in the house with CCTV are away on holiday and that Ben will be able to see the CCTV when they return home.
So early morning October 19th Daniel fills up his van with diesel heads into Leeds where I believe he visits a massage Parlour then buys a large amount of petrol before heading back to the house with the CCTV.
He approached the door with a can of fuel – he is seen pacing up and down toward the door before pouring petrol through the letter box and setting it alight. Now this is the early hours of the morning and what he doesn't know is a family, the Broadhead family, who had returned from the family holiday were sleeping inside. Andrew, Sara and their daughters, Mia, and Keira.
This fire was huge and ferocious and took hold quickly, the parent's woke up to an explosion and frantically tried to escape, Mum Sara got Mia out of her bedroom window whilst Andrew went to get Keira. The fire crew arrived within a matter of minutes and neighbours spilled on to the street to try and help. But Andrew and Keira didn’t make it. Keira was brought out of the house by fire crew, and she was pronounced dead at 4.37am. Andrew was retrieved and pronounced dead a little while after.
That’s just terrible, I really feel for them all. Imagine getting out yourself, hearing your husband and daughter coughing & screaming behind you and then it all go’s quiet.
Yeah, it’s awful.
The whole community of Stanley was shattered. a sea of flowers were placed overnight outside the house and many people came forward speaking of what a lovely man Andrew was and how bright, vivacious, and kind his daughter had been.
Instantly the fire service suspected arson and they appealed for anyone with information to come forward and declared it a murder enquiry. The police said that the person who started the fire was likely to have been burnt and the fire took hold so quickly and they asked the public to come forward to if they know anyone with these types of injuries.
meanwhile Daniel was shitting it, he was googling the case constantly, remember he had supposedly believed that no one was in the house. The police however were on to him pretty quickly, using CCTV, the tracker-on Daniels's work Van that he was still using and no doubt a little local knowledge just a few days later Daniel was arrested. He gave no comment answers to questions but even, so he was charge and held until his trial on in Nov 2017.
He was charged with 2 counts of murder, arson, and burglary. He pleaded not guilty to all charges. Daniel said he regularly smoked cannabis and occasionally used ketamine and cocaine but did not have a drug problem.
He had been to Gamblers Anonymous meetings, and he was planning to declare himself bankrupt because of the amount of debt he was in, but he insisted that he did not steal the safe, containing £850 and 1oz of ketamine, from his friend's home.
The prosecution's case was that he acted to try and destroy evidence.
Mia, who was only 12 spoke in the court room about what she had lost, and this is a very unusual thing as in most cases the minimum age to speak in court is 14.
She gave an extremely emotive speech about her dad and sister – I can only imagine how heart breaking that must have been. It's reported that Daniel jones stared Straight forward and showed no emotion during the trial. The Prosecution argued that Daniel must have known people where in the house as a light was on.
This hasn’t been proven either way and we will likely never know if he did or not.
The jury where quick to find him guilty of the burglary and Arson but chose manslaughter rather than murder. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
What do you think of the sentence Kelly?
(K) well… I am a strong believer in if you can’t do the time don’t do the crime. So I honestly think that it could be more. He killed two people whether he meant to or not, and the reason why he set the fires was purely to protect himself over less than a grand. I did also read an article that said he had been caught of other cctv glancing up at the bedroom window where a light was on so it’s questionable that he might have known the family were home and still set the fire.
This guy, his mate already knew it was him. his van had been seen etc., that was why he’s warned him about the potential cctv the day before the fire? What was Paul Kaye going to do to him? do you know more about them?
Not wanting to cast aspersions of course but a safe and a supply of drugs were stolen from the property. Mr jones doesn’t believe he has a drug problem but made damn sure not to piss off his supplier? Then I have to factor in addiction, drug, and gambling. But at the end of the day whilst I am sympathetic of both, He killed a child and her father, if he plays nice, he’ll be out before he’s 50, an age neither of his victims saw.
(D) And you know what, the CCTV at the house wasn’t working anyway – how fucking horrible.
Peter Dinsdale.
(By K)
This week I’m going to take you through the case of the most prolific British serial killer that you’ve never heard of. He confessed to a total of 11 acts of arson and was convicted of 26 counts of manslaughter. Meaning that he killed more than the Yorkshire ripper, the moors murderers and the black panther combined.
Why don’t we know about him?
You’d be forgiven for not hearing about this guy, even if you are into true crime. Perhaps because it was around the same time as the afore mentioned? Today I’m going to be telling you all about Peter George Dinsdale. And Peter likes to change his name quite a bit, so you may have heard of him go by Bruce George Peter Lee.
Peter Dinsdale was born in Manchester on the 31st of July 1960, to single mum Doreen Dinsdale; his father was listed as unknown on his birth certificate and allegedly left shortly after his birth.
Peter was born with a weakened and malformed right hand and leg; it’s often described as withered. He was born with congenital spastic hemiplegia, which falls under the mobility symptoms of cerebral palsy. He was also epileptic and experienced seizures.
Doreen Dinsdale was a single mother and a sex worker, returning to her profession quickly, (within weeks) of her son’s birth. From what I’ve read Doreen was ill equipped as a mother, often leaving Peter with his grandparents or a neighbour and sometimes alone. It seems she particularly struggled to care for Peter, perhaps because of his medical conditions; she is said to have referred to him as a freak, and from 6 months old he was mainly being cared for by his grandmother. One year after Peter’s birth his sister Sharon was born.
Because of Doreen’s lifestyle and the children’s chaotic upbringing, they were placed into care from a very young age. At age 3, dirty, small, undernourished and not achieving his developmental milestones Peter was taken into his first Children’s Home.
He stayed there for a year and when he was healthier, at the age of four, they tried to place him back with his mother. Doreen, who was still working in the sex trade at this time would hide the small child when she had clients round and she would leave Peter at home alone whilst she went out. He would try to follow his mother when she left and would be found toddling around the street; within weeks he was back at the Children’s Home. At the age of six, they once again try to place him back with his mother, but he is quickly returned to care.
I understand that it is often in the child’s best interest to be with their birth family but in this case, I’m like just fucking give it up. Why not place him with someone who gives half a shit. And I mean that just in terms of her as a mother, not because she’s a sex worker, because she is clearly not cut out for it.
And for him, as a child. And for his cognitive development and mental health, not great.
And unfortunately for Peter whilst the Children’s Home may have provided him with regular meals and a sense of security it didn’t really provide him with a warm fluffy environment to grow in. It was quite cold; he was isolated and often left alone. And to make matters even worse for Peter he was regularly sexually abused by the older children.
It’s horrific and I feel genuinely sorry for this kid, but spoiler alert it won’t last long.
Peter was enrolled at a local School; this was a state-run facility for disabled children or children who had learning disabilities in the local area. and a lot of the students went home to their own families at the end of the day whilst Peter went back to the Home.
In 1969 At the age of nine, Peter who was often penniless, poorly clothed, and already known to be a loner with few friends, had developed an interest in fire, Pyromania. He would later say that at this time he was becoming obsessed by fire, he would burn things, set bonfires, and even dream about fires.
It’s at this age that he sets his first big fire, and it is notable for a 9-year-old because he burns down a shopping centre and causes a shit ton of damage, around 30,000 which for the time was kind of a big deal. He practically burnt it to the ground.
He would make his way around town either on foot or by pushbike, always armed with a washing up liquid bottle of paraffin, and Q “when I began to feel a tingling in my fingers” would set fires. And he could just hide in plain sight enjoying watching the emergency services dealing with the destruction from the crowds of onlookers. No one suspected him.
At the age of eleven, after being bounced around children’s homes he begins to visit his mother at the weekend. Doreen is now living in Hull with her husband. Peter got on well with his stepdad, but still the relationship between him and his mother still wasn’t great. The couple didn’t really do much with him and would go out and leave him of an evening, he was very isolated again, even when he was with people.
1973 at the age of 12 he moves in with his mum and stepdad full time in Hull, and he attends a new school for children with additional needs. On the evening of the 23rd of June 1973, Peter goes to the home of a boy from the school, a six-year-old called Richard Ellerington who lived not too far away from him and sets a fire.
Richard was trapped in the front bedroom of his home when his parents, siblings and two guests were all escaping from a less-damaged bedroom, unaware he wasn't with them; he sadly died.
No one suspected Peter had anything to do with this, in fact no definite conclusion was reached at the inquest, although there was a suspicion that there had been a leak from a gas oven.
The abuse that Peter was subjected to at the various homes, follows him to the new school and sadly it would appear that he is now the abuser as well, as he starts to abuse younger boys.
On October 12, 1973, so the same year, Bernard Smythe, aged 72 who was said to be a reclusive bachelor on the borders of senility. Was sleeping in the lounge of his house when a fire broke out. he became trapped in the overcrowded room he predominantly lived in and died.
Paraffin was detected as the accelerant but put down to two paraffin heaters, one of which was overturned, leading investigators to believe Mr Smythe had perhaps knocked over a candle he used for a light since the electricity was cut off.
And it just gets worse I’m afraid. Two weeks later on October 27, 1973 - David Brewer, who was 34 at the time. Was sleeping on the sofa at the flat he shared with his mum. He actually woke up on fire! His mum wasn’t home at the time, but a quick-thinking neighbour covered him in wet towels and an ambulance was called. Sadly, he died in hospital eight days later.
Again investigators are happy to explain this away due to unconfirmed reports of clothes drying by the fire, the inquest concluded that these had caught light despite there being no other fire damage beyond the settee. Mr Brewer was never able to speak at any point about the incident, due to the extent of his injuries.
But it later turned out that he had argued with Peter two days earlier, David had caught Peter sneaking into the Pigeon loft and had chased him off, and another thing that may have been a tad of a red flag if connected. Peter returned to the Pigeon loft a few weeks after the attack on David and he strangled every single Pigeon.
Fucking hell, the pigeons didn’t do anything!
Something I want to touch on, is how creepy this guy is. He’s 13 at this point and he’s going into people’s houses to set these fires. Like he may sometimes pour paraffin through letter boxes and stuff but with Richard, Bernard & David he has snuck into their houses to set the fires. Shudder. I was researching this, and you know it’s been humid, and there’s a lovely breeze coming through the windows at the front, and I was like I should leave them open, cue image of creepy teenager crawling through the window and setting fire to me.
I slept well that night.
So before we go on, Let’s just discuss Peter in his early to mid-teens, during this time because he’s still legally a child, when it doesn’t work out with Doreen again, probably got bored of him, he is placed with a foster family. and for once he actually gets someone who cares, so that may be when we see possible breaks in his attacks? And in his teenage years he actually dates two girls. Neither of the relationships last long and but he does tattoo both their names on his arm.
The fact that he managed to get a girlfriend astounds me.
especially when he was known by all who knew him as an odd loner. Someone who would never stand up for himself, was very quiet and didn’t talk much. Everyone called him “Daft Peter”. He was considered by all as. Odd, but not dangerous.
Makes sense as to why no one suspected him.
Yeah, so at 14 on December 23, 1974 - Elizabeth Rokahr, aged 82. Again sleeping in the lounge of her terraced home, died when a fire engulfed the living room of her terraced home.
a lot of people sleeping in their living rooms at this time.
I know, the inquest concluded she had either unwittingly started the blaze herself through smoking or due to clothes drying next to the fire.
relatives and neighbours didn’t fully accept this saying she was a careful smoker and always made sure drying clothes were at the side of the fire rather than in front of it.
When Dinsdale was 15, On the 3rd of June 1976, A grandmother was babysitting for three of her grandchildren, the youngest of which was 1 year old Andrew Edwards. She had taken the baby upstairs to bed and on returning downstairs to the two other children discovered a fire in the under stairs cupboard, the very one they had been playing in. She quickly got the two children out and called the fire brigade, in the panic she had forgotten the baby and sadly it was too late. One year old Andrew died.
The inquest concluded that as the fire had started in the under stairs cupboard, the little boy who had been in there playing must have started it himself with some matches. The grandmother was so traumatised by the incident afterwards she was committed to a psychiatric hospital.
Around 6 months later on the 2nd of January 1977, Peter set another fire which would claim the life of another child. Katrina Thacker aged six months was in her cot in the living room of her home when a fire broke out. Her mother was taking her other 5-year-old sister to the toilet at the time and her other sister a 4-year-old, who was asleep upstairs, was rescued.
The fireplace was stacked with fuel but no flame, but the inquest still concluded that a spark from the fire had set the living room alight.
And apparently it was down to the Pigeon's again, Dinsdale had a habit of just walking in uninvited to see them and obviously the owner didn’t like it.
He’s 16 at this point, and the foster family he was staying with, no longer get support for him and sadly that means he’s out. returning to his mums once more.
He leaves the school with no qualifications and an IQ measuring 68. Average is approx. 105 for that age group just for context. He was sporadically employed after leaving school, working in what were classed as menial roles. Basic labouring, assisting at the local Speedway track and at the gate for Hull Kingston Rovers on match days, and even at a local pig farm. Co-workers remember him as a sad character, quiet and unassuming and often mocked by others.
He is at this time also involved in the local ‘rent boy’ scene, sleeping with men often to earn money to eat or rent a room. I have a quote from a police officer here saying.
“His right arm and right leg were deformed, he had a limp, he had a habit of holding his right arm across his chest. He was poorly dressed, he was clearly undernourished, and on first impressions one had to feel sorry for him.”
Three days after the attack on the Thacker family on the evening of January 5, 1977, Dinsdale snuck into a local council run residential home. The Wensley Lodge provided accommodation to elderly men with varying mental & Physical needs. A support worker on night duty saw smoke coming from a first-floor corridor another colleague phoned the Fire Brigade. They found the bedroom where the fire had started and managed to escort the sole resident from the room, unfortunately the fire spread through the first floor and to the second, trapping more residents.
Harold Akester, Victor Consitt, Benjamin Phillips, Arthur Ellwood, William Hoult, William Carter, Percy Sanderson, John Riby, William Beales, Leonard Dennett, and Arthur Hardy. 11 men all aged between 65-95 died in the fire.
(These 11 convictions were later overturned on appeal, though Dinsdale maintains his guilt)
Again, no one’s suspected Daft Peter in this, and they tried to blame a plumber who had used a blowtorch directly below the room where the fire started, earlier in the day. Experts said that there were no faults with the plumber's work or tools and the plumber strongly denied any errors on his part.
Like on statistics alone at this point you’d think someone would be asking some questions. But no. and so more and more victims are killed.
April 27, 1977, The Jordan family were staying with friends The Hooper's, when a fire broke out. Mr Jordan who was asleep on the sofa ran upstairs to warn everyone before managing to escape. Mr Hooper woke everyone else up and they began escaping from a window. Two of the children, made it out along with the adults but sadly the two others didn’t. Mark Jordan who was seven had gone back to help his friend Deborah Hooper, Deborah was 13 and was disabled. They had both been overwhelmed by the smoke. Mark was later recommended for a posthumous bravery award.
The inquest alleged that a rogue cigarette had been left burning, despite there once again being little evidence to support this.
January 6, 1978, there is more carnage when another fire happens. Mrs Christine Dickson, 24, was stood chatting outside to a neighbour, her husband was ill and so was in bed upstairs. Her four children, one of which was a baby were also in the house. Christine noticed smoke coming from an upstairs window and ran inside. She grabbed her baby and quickly handed it to the neighbour before running back inside to get the other three. Her husband managed to escape but she became trapped and engulfed by the flames. Christine and her sons Mark, 5, Steven 4 and Michael who was 16 months old all died in the fire.
The inquest suspected that the eldest two boys had lit the fire themselves, although this was strongly refuted by their father and the neighbour. The mother was later given a posthumous bravery award.
What is wrong with these inquests?
Right! This is 24 people that he’s killed now, up to you if you count the 11 men in the home, Dinsdale sure does. And still there is no one suspecting Arson! It’s just a lot of terrible fire related accidents in a concentrated area. He is also known to have set fire to numerous unoccupied dwellings and outbuildings throughout this time too, so that annoys me a bit because not only have you got fires where people are being killed but you aren’t investigating the abundant random fires in the area as well. when is someone going to wake up and smell the burnt sofa ffs?
on June 21, 1979, Dinsdale who is 18 at this point, sets fire to a maisonette. 27-year-old Rosabell Fenton, who was pregnant at the time and her eight-year-old daughter Samantha, were inside. They managed to escape but both suffered serious burns, and Fenton miscarried her unborn baby not long after.
For a lot of these victims they had no beef with Dinsdale real or perceived, they were seemingly unconnected victims, but Dinsdale’s final fire was very personal. And it would seem that he had finally picked the wrong victims.
The Hastie family lived at no 12 Selby Street, and consisted of parents Tommy and Edith Hastie, and their seven children – four sons and three daughters. Tommy Hastie had a long criminal record, and the rest of the family seemed to follow in his footsteps, being involved in vandalism and theft and having many run ins with the neighbours. They were commonly known as a “problem family” throughout the local area.
On the 4th of December 1979 with Tommy in prison once again Edith had taken her daughters to relatives nearby. With just the four boys to look after she put them to bed and settled down for the night.
Shortly before midnight paraffin was poured over the porch and through the letter box, before being set alight. The house was quickly engulfed in flames.
Charles Hastie aged 15; managed to get his 9-year-old brother Thomas out of a back bedroom window, helping his mum to do the same before he became trapped with his two other brothers, Paul 12, Peter Hastie, eight.
The Fire service did manage to get the boys out, but they had suffered 80% burns to their bodies, and they all succumbed to their injuries over the next few days in the burns unit of Wakefield’s Pinderfields Hospital.
And problem family or not that is fucking terrible, and I really felt for Edith Hastie in this, at the funeral. There was a noticeable lack of mourners, and she was filmed shouting at the crowd.
“Which one of you fucking murdering bastards did this? It was one of you!”
There was a general theme of ‘they got what they deserved’.
That’s awful. They didn’t deserve that.
no, they didn’t; even the police said they had never known a family be so hated.
And finally the Fire investigators could in no way deem this an accident, there were spent matches found on the porch, an overwhelming smell of paraffin, as well as a pool of actual paraffin nearby, where someone had set a can down.
A note was found which threatened the family, telling them to leave or be bombed out, so police started looking for someone who might be out for revenge.
They focussed on the note and checked handwriting samples of loads of people in the local area. They got a match, but it was to a frail elderly lady who had been terrorised by the boys. I mean, she played a cracker there – this letter starts with A family of fuckin rubbish, we all hate you! She said she thought if she wrote it in their language, it would help them understand.
So with that lead gone, Police wondered if the house next door had been the real target, it was a known drug den. Had someone got the address wrong? six months on the police are at a loss and they’d explored every line of enquiry except one. Charlie Hastie, the 15-year-old who had died had allegedly been involved in the local rent boy scene.
The police questioned lots of people involved in the scene including Dinsdale, who now at the age of 19 is going by the name Bruce Lee. (it’s Bruce Peter George Lee) but he was by all accounts obsessed with the one and only Chinese American Martial artist and he thought by changing his name he would automatically become cool and no longer be daft peter. I’ve also read that his stepfather’s surname was also Lee so perhaps that factored in also, not 100% on that one.
Lee confirmed that not only did he know Charlie Hastie, but he had indeed been involved in “indecent sexual behaviour” with him. Lee was not charged with any offence stemming from these revelations and was released by the police.
The policeman in charge of this case is a guy called Ron Sagar, is under immense pressure to solve the case and decides to pursue the Charlie being an underage sex worker angle, it’s been confirmed by Lee. So in a desperate move Ron Sagar decides to bring in known Gay Sex offenders and accuse them straight out of setting the fire that killed Charlie and his brothers.
Due to his previous admission, Lee is called back in for questioning. Sagar accuses him outright just like he has with the other men he has brought in and to his surprise, Lee replied - "I didn't mean to kill them,"
This blows my mind because if Lee had denied knowing Charlie, it’s unlikely he would been asked back in, he’d have probably been disregarded as a suspect again.
Lee confessed to the Selby Street fire, it turned out that Lee knew the Hastie family very well, in fact, he was constantly mocked and ridiculed by them, a favourite target for their bullying.
Lee also said that because he had constantly asked 16-year-old Angeleena Hastie to be his girlfriend – and had been mocked and refused each time, he had a grudge against the family.
But in particular he wanted “to teach Charlie a lesson”.
He claimed that Charlie had been threatening him and extorting money from him after the pair had indulged in mutual masturbation, with Charlie threatening to go to the police because he was a minor.
To the amazement of Ron Sagar Lee went on to confess to more fires in Hull over the previous 7 years. At first, they thought he was a fantasist, willing to confess to anything, but after he gave them detailed descriptions, they realised they had a serial arsonist on their hands, and as a consequence a serial killer.
Police drove Lee around Hull to get him to show them the fires he had started, they tried to trap him, taking him to a house fire where another suspect had already been caught, but he denied all knowledge, confessing to many others. In all instances the fires he admitted to were thought to have been accidents and at no time had arson been suspected.
Lee claimed that most of the fires were started at random simply because he loved fire, and that he did not consider whether he was endangering life when he started them. Only the Hastie fire was a 'known' house, as he bore a grudge against Charles.
On the 20th of January 1981, at Leeds crown court, Lee pleaded not guilty to 26 counts of murder, but guilty to 26 counts of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, and to 11 counts of arson. He got Life imprisonment and was initially taken to Park Lane Special Hospital in Liverpool, before later being transferred to Rampton secure unit.
In 1983, a public inquiry concluded that the fire at the residential home was accidental, and that Lee was not responsible for it, nor therefore of killing the eleven men.
This technically reduced Lee’s death toll to 15 people, which is still more than any other British killer of a similar time, but remember he never stopped claiming responsibility for the residential home fire.
In 1993, the Home Office announced it would not be reviewing his case because there were "insufficient grounds" for intervention by the Home Secretary.
In 2005, Lee? or possibly Peter again now? Because you guessed it, he’s changing his name again. Peter Mawson was permitted to marry his fellow Rampton patient Anne-Marie Davison, which caused upset to his victims' families. Sounds like he’s having a whale of a time I bet. But the families were assured that while Lee was legally entitled to marry, he and his new wife were not entitled to consummate the marriage.
Fair enough. I don’t think you should get perks in prison.
Another name change in 2011 when now Mr Peter Tredget applied to the CCRC (Criminal Cases Review Commission that’s the public body responsible for investigating alleged miscarriages of criminal justice in the UK.) asking for an investigation to be conducted into the remaining convictions.
And it finds that yes, it should be referred for an appeal because it believes new evidence identified during its investigation raises a real possibility of quashing his convictions. new evidence, Mr Tredget's confessions, and non-compliance with the Police and Criminal Evidence Act are the main factors cited.
In 2016, He was seen out on day release on escorted leave, and it was reported in the press, which was very upsetting for the families. He was noted as now being in a psychiatric unit run by the priory group in the home counties. So I’m not sure if that is a different place to Rampton Secure hospital in Nottinghamshire.
One former patient, who was locked up with Lee, said: "he’s telling people he’s facing a tribunal and will be discharged within six months. And he’s telling people he’s planning to return to Hull."
And it would seem that he may be telling some truth there if somewhat over confidently because, as well as Lee and the CCRC.
In Oct 2019, politicians, campaigned for the Home Secretary to investigate how Humberside Police conducted itself during the investigation which resulted in Tredget’s conviction. People believe that his convictions may have been miscarriages of justice.
I imagine any further push for his release has been placed on hold at the moment. I couldn’t find anything more up to date than 2019 on him. But in response to rumours of his release the Ministry of Justice confirmed Lee’s indefinite detention remained in force and it was “categorically untrue” he was being considered for release.
Watch this space, Worryingly I think we may hear more about Whatever he decides to call himself face in the future.
I have struggled with this one, and yes as bloody usual I have gone on for far too long when it’s a mini, but I underestimated how in depth this case was. It’s my go to when I think of British Arson and I’m ashamed to admit I didn’t know as much as I thought I did.
I’m torn, because there is no denying that Lee is a pyromaniac, he gained thrills from setting fires.
whilst he had a terrible childhood and was clearly failed, he also was aware of what he was doing. I do think that he selected the majority of his victims, every one of them except for the elderly men seem to have a connection to him. I’ve mentioned the ones he didn’t like or had somehow crossed him and he later accounts for others too, like the woman who sadly miscarried; he said he just didn’t like her.
For me, the other fires are mainly attacks on happy families, or perhaps what he sees as happy families. Or even more specifically I feel like he is aiming for the children, happy children? The children from school, and the other girl with disabilities that he allegedly targeted could possibly remind him of his position within the world but particularly his position in a family.
What I do find particularly sad aside from the victims horrible deaths is that when he was a child Peter had had tests done and the doctors found that whilst he had physical impairments, he had no sort of innate mental impairments. I’m trying to think how to word this… It’s manslaughter - not murder because of diminished capacity and it’s clear there is something not right here, but his way of thinking even from an early age was due to his nurture not his nature. If he had been placed with a caring foster family from the age of three then it is unlikely, we would be talking about him today; I genuinely believe that.
But that doesn’t change what happened and it doesn’t change the fact that despite retrospective articles or documentaries discussing the UK’s worst killers, Lee’s name still rarely comes up. I wonder if it is because of the manslaughter vs murder charge, or due to his age or his physical and mental capabilities, is it plain old discrimination? I just feel that there are lessons to be learned here and if you don’t talk about him then we can’t talk about the victims.
As usual we hope you’ve enjoyed this weeks case. Next week we are back with a listener suggestion from Laura, and it is one we have really enjoyed covering. Until then though we hope you all keep safe and well out there and get in touch with us on the socials.
Sources.
http://www.murderuk.com/serial_peter_dinsdale.html
https://murderpedia.org/male.L/l/lee-bruce-george.htm
https://books.google.co.uk/books/Crimesofourtimeslink
https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/news/hull-east-yorkshire-news/bruce-lee-arsonist-killer-crimes-3473793
https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/news/hull-east-yorkshire-news/bruce-lee-arsonist-killer-crimes-3473793
https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/news/hull-east-yorkshire-news/serial-killer-bruce-lee-conviction-3473643?token=-747374811
https://ccrc.gov.uk/commission-refers-the-1981-arson-and-manslaughter-convictions-of-peter-tredget-aka-bruce-lee-to-the-court-of-appeal/
https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/news/hull-east-yorkshire-news/serial-killer-bruce-lee-conviction-3473643?token=-747374811
https://www.reddit.com/r/serial_killers/comments/narw0o/bruce_lee_born_with_the_given_name_peter_george/
https://horrorhistory.net/2020/01/05/serial-arsonist-lights-fire-at-nursing-home-claims-lives-of-11/
https://thetruecrimeenthusiast.co.uk/2017/03/24/the-hull-arsonist-part-1/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-50207291
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-41513330
https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/west-yorkshire-news/man-who-killed-dad-daughter-13881275
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/gambling-addict-jailed-20-years-11493676
https://youtu.be/UihuhBa1RYs
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/687160/Bruce-Lee-serial-killer-arsonist-Peter-Dinsdale-allowed-day-release
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/serial-gambler-murdered-father-daughter-11297355
https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/i-panicked-and-lied-police-says-man-accused-killing-father-and-daughter-house-fire-596185
Seeing red – season 2 episode 17
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