Colin Ireland (16 March 1954 – 21 February 2012) was a British serial killer known as the Gay Slayer, because his victims were gay men. Criminologist David Wilson believes that Ireland was a psychopath.

Ireland suffered a severely dysfunctional upbringing. He committed various crimes from the age of 16 and had served time in borstals and prisons. Ireland sought men who liked the passive role and sado-masochism, so he could readily restrain them as they initially believed it was a sexual game.

Ireland was heterosexual: he had been twice married to women, he pretended to be gay only to befriend potential victims. Ireland's murders were not sexually motivated. and remained imprisoned until his death on 21 February 2012, at the age of 57.

Early life

Ireland was born in 1954 in Dartford, Kent, to an unmarried teenage couple; shortly after his birth, his father left him and his 17-year-old mother. His father is not named on his birth certificate, and Ireland did not know his identity. He was raised in poverty and moved home many times. When his mother married and became pregnant she put Ireland into care, although he was later returned to her. She went on to remarry in 1966. In his mid-teens, he was sent to borstal for theft, and whilst there, deliberately set fire to another resident's belongings. At age 17, Ireland was convicted of robbery. He escaped and was returned to borstal. Ireland placed two teddy bears in a 69 position on the body. He left Walker's dogs locked in another room. The day after the murder, having heard no news reports of the crime, he called the Samaritans and a journalist from The Sun newspaper, advising them of the dogs, and that he had murdered their owner. businessman Perry Bradley III at the Coleherne pub. Bradley lived in Kensington and was the son of Texas Democratic Party fundraiser Perry Bradley Jr.

The two men returned to Bradley's flat, where Ireland suggested that he tie Bradley up; Bradley expressed his displeasure at the idea. but police eventually connected all five killings. The crimes were publicised by the mass media and it quickly became known in the gay community that a serial killer was specifically targeting gay men.

Investigations revealed that Spiteri had left the Coleherne pub and travelled home with his killer by train, and a security video successfully captured the two of them on the railway platform at Charing Cross station. He had robbed those he killed because he was unemployed at the time, and he needed funds to travel to and from London when hunting for victims.

When his case came to the Old Bailey on 20 December 1993, Ireland admitted all charges and was given life sentences for each. The judge, Mr Justice Sachs, said he was "exceptionally frightening and dangerous", adding: "To take one human life is an outrage; to take five is carnage." This does not seem to have occurred, though whether because Ireland was lying is uncertain.

On 22 December 2006, Ireland was one of 35 life sentence prisoners whose names appeared on the Home Office's list of prisoners who had been issued with whole life tariffs and were unlikely ever to be released.

Ireland's crimes received sensationalist coverage in the tabloid press. As well as the nickname "The Gay Slayer", and briefly "The Fairy Liquidiser" in Ireland and England, he was headlined as "Jack The Gripper" by the News of the World.

Death

Ireland died on 21 February 2012, at Wakefield Prison. A spokeswoman for Her Majesty's Prison Service said: "He is presumed to have died from natural causes; a post-mortem will follow." Later, his death was ascribed to pulmonary fibrosis and a fractured hip he had suffered earlier in the month as preliminary causes of death.

Media

  • In 2001, Ireland's was one of several covered in the fifth episode of Infamous Murders titled "Crimes of Prejudice".
  • In 2008, Real Crime covered his case in the third episode of series 7 "Serial Killer on Camera".
  • In 2012, Ireland was the subject of the fifth episode of series 4 of Born to Kill?.
  • In 2013, Ireland's case was covered in the sixth episode of series 4 of Crimes That Shook Britain.
  • In 2016, Ireland's was one of three cases covered in the first episode of Encounters with Evil titled "Thrill Killers".
  • In 2017, Colin Ireland's crimes were covered in an episode of the CBS Reality series Voice of a Serial Killer.
  • In 2019, Ireland was the subject of episode 7, in series 3 of Most Evil Killers. on Sky UK-owned channel, Pick.

See also

  • List of serial killers in the United Kingdom

References

  • Colin Ireland
  • Colin Ireland in Crime&Investigation Network