Peter Samuel Cook (17 August 1928 – 9 January 2004) was a British serial rapist who attacked women in Cambridge , England and so became known in the press as the Cambridge Rapist . He attacked women after breaking into their bedsits and flats. He was active between October 1974 and April 1975, and was also called the 'hooded rapist' because of a distinctive leather mask he wore whilst carrying out his crimes. The mask was reported to be "stitched from an old leather shopping bag. The zipper-mouthed mask had the word 'rapist' painted in white across the forehead".
55-436: Cook, who was arrested following what was one of Britain’s biggest police manhunts, was escaping from the scene of an attack wearing a long blonde wig as a disguise when he was apprehended. At the time of his arrest, Cook was 46 years old and working as a delivery driver for a wine company. At his trial in 1976, in addition to six rapes Cook was also convicted of wounding two other women and committing an act of gross indecency on
110-664: A leather mask to a supposed rapist who was terrorizing the town of Cambridge. I made that upon the week of my return from NY". Cook’s exploits were also the basis of John Burnside ’s 2001 novel The Locust Room , and have featured in Paul Bahn ’s memoir The Cambridge Rapist - Unmasking The Beast of Bedsitland . They have also been the subject of a TV movie. Reviewing social historian Mark Garnett ’s 2007 book From Anger to Apathy: The Story of Politics, Society and Popular Culture in Britain Since 1975 , Victoria Segal noted that, "Garnett
165-454: A "shameless performer" in court. He was probably the most successful barrister of his day. In 1955, aided by junior counsel Sebag Shaw and Peter Rawlinson , Stevenson defended Ruth Ellis against the charge of murdering her lover. Stevenson's decision to keep his cross-examination of the prosecution witnesses to a minimum, and his "near silent performance in court", have been severely criticised by Muriel Jakubait, Ellis's sister. He opened
220-560: A BBC television dramatisation of the events leading up to the Iraq war. Campbell is (2014 ) Chair of Governors at Parkside Federation Academy and a governor at UTC University Technical College Cambridge. She became chair of the Fabian Society for 2008. In 1997, Campbell became an Honorary Doctor of Philosophy at Anglia Ruskin University . Campbell was often seen riding her bike around
275-465: A Greek ship, the SS Peleus , which they had just torpedoed and sunk. Eck and two of his junior officers were executed by firing squad ; he was the only U-boat commander of the war to be convicted of war crimes committed at sea. In the late 1940s and early 1950s Stevenson started to build his chambers' high reputation for commercial litigation, together with Alan Orr and Leslie Scarman , supported by
330-464: A lesson to you. —Sir Melford Stevenson Stevenson was appointed a High Court judge on 1 October 1957, and (as is traditional) was knighted a few days later. From 1958 until 1960, he was a member of an Inter-Departmental Committee on Human Artificial Insemination. For the first four years of his judicial career Stevenson was assigned to the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division , after which he
385-581: A lively crowd at the bar of the Garrick Club , of which he was a member. His home at Winchelsea on the Sussex coast was called Truncheons, sometimes taken to reflect his authoritarian views, but the area had been known by that name for many years before his arrival. Following his retirement, Stevenson called for the restoration of the death penalty for all murders, and made frequent guest appearances on television until his health and eyesight began to fail. Among
440-522: A month later he returned to the same address and raped another resident at the property. It has been reported that when Cook was thwarted in his attempts to rape a woman he used lipstick to write "sleep tight - the rapist" on his intended victims' windows. Cook’s sixth victim was raped on 13 February 1975 at her home in Marshall Road. On 5 May of that year he attempted another attack, in Pye Terrace, but
495-450: A ninth. A further victim had fought him off when he forcibly tried to gain access to her flat. On each occasion he is believed to have spoken to his victim. Following Cook's conviction, Mr Justice Melford Stevenson gave him two life sentences and recommended he should spend the rest of his life in jail. T-shirts capitalising on Cook’s notoriety were sold by punk fashion designers Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood and one of these
550-467: A notable barristers' clerk , Cyril Batchelor. He was elected a bencher of the Inner Temple in 1950, and appointed Recorder of Cambridge, a part-time judge, in 1952; he had previously served as Recorder for Rye from 1944 to 1951. In 1954 he represented the government of British Kenya during Jomo Kenyatta 's unsuccessful appeal against his conviction for membership of the rebel Mau Mau ; Kenyatta
605-599: A part in the abolition of capital punishment in the UK in 1969. Stevenson was a leading member of the legal team assisting Sir Reginald Manningham-Buller during the failed prosecution of Dr John Bodkin Adams in 1957. The prosecution's conduct of the trial has been heavily criticised, and its decision to drop a second murder charge via a nolle prosequi was scathingly described by the trial judge, Patrick Devlin , as "an abuse of process", saying: "The use of nolle prosequi to conceal
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#1732852477368660-601: A reprimand from the Lord Chancellor , Lord Elwyn-Jones , and a parliamentary motion in the UK House of Commons calling for his resignation. In 1976 the Court of Appeal overturned three of Stevenson's decisions in a single day, and Labour member of parliament Marcus Lipton tabled another parliamentary motion calling for his removal from the bench. But Eustace Roskill cautions that "It would be wrong to judge Stevenson simply by
715-691: A reputation for severity in sentencing. He sentenced the Kray twins to life imprisonment in 1969, with a recommendation that they serve not less than 30 years each. In 1970 Stevenson passed long sentences on eight Cambridge University students who took part in the Garden House riot , and the following year gave Jake Prescott of the Angry Brigade 15 years for conspiracy to cause explosions. One of his fellow judges, Sir Robin Dunn , described him as "the worst judge since
770-586: A towel. He told the police after his arrest: "I came to rob and stayed to rape". He subsequently struck again on 1 November, in Abbey Road, Cambridge. Less than a fortnight later he raped another student on 13 November, at Homerton College , and on 8 December he committed a further rape in Owlstone Road. In November 1974, Cook attacked a woman living in Huntingdon Road but she succeeded in repelling him. However,
825-532: Is a terrible place. You can go back there." In similar vein he told a husband involved in a divorce case that his decision to live in Manchester was "a wholly incomprehensible choice for any free man to make". Following a 1964 parallel of his comments in the wake of the Bodkin Adams case, Stevenson attracted criticism for his summing up to the jury in the case of Ryan : It is, we think, clear ... that it
880-411: Is not served by the present law. It should be possible for the prosecution to directly examine an accused ... It was a clear example of the privilege of silence having enabled a guilty man to escape." In Stevenson's opinion Adams "was so incredibly lucky to have literally got away with murder". ... without knowing what bodies, political or other, Melford belonged to, it would be safe to say that he
935-844: Is oddly fixated on both the Clash and the Cambridge Rapist". Cook was mentioned in a podcast episode (Minisode 150) of My Favourite Murder 25 November 2019. Referenced, somewhat obliquely, in the lyrics of the Pete Townshend song Street in the City from the Rough Mix album by Townshend and Ronnie Lane with "Did you read about the Cambridge Raper". Melford Stevenson Sir Aubrey Melford Steed Stevenson , PC (17 October 1902 – 26 December 1987), usually known as Sir Melford Stevenson ,
990-503: Is retained in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum . Prior to his sexual offences, Cook already had a lengthy criminal history, having been a prolific burglar, and had served numerous prison sentences. As a young man he had made escapes from approved schools , and he later absconded from prisons on several occasions, becoming known as one of Britain’s most wanted escapees. Looking back on his Cambridge rapes 40 years later in 2014,
1045-440: Is wrong to say to a jury "Because the accused exercised what is undoubtedly his right, the privilege of remaining silent, you may draw an inference of guilt"; it is quite a different matter to say "this accused, as he is entitled to do, has not advanced at an earlier stage the explanation that has been offered to you today; you the jury may take that into account when you are assessing the weight that you think it right to attribute to
1100-562: The Cambridge News noted: "On one occasion, after being sentenced to five years in jail, he was being held at Shire Hall in Cambridge awaiting prison transport to Dartmoor – and he managed to escape by squirming through a trapdoor in a ceiling. When he got a job as a scaffolder, workmates nicknamed him the Human Fly because of his agility. While on the run from Shire Hall, he wrote a letter to
1155-403: The 1945 United Kingdom general election . He opened his campaign by declaring that in the interests of a clean fight, he would make no allusions to the "alleged homosexuality" of his opponent, Tom Driberg , who heavily defeated him in the vote; Stevenson returned to his legal practice the following year. Despite his severe manner, Stevenson was extremely sociable and he was often the centre of
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#17328524773681210-578: The King’s Road in Chelsea run by punk fashion designers Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren 's sold T-shirts which "featured the leather mask worn by the Cambridge Rapist". McLaren later claimed, "The Cambridge Rapist t-shirt was designed by me upon my return from managing the New York Dolls . It was about a particular incident that occurred in the shop and worried those when they were accused of selling
1265-642: The National Institute of Agricultural Botany from 1983 to 1992. She was first elected in the 1992 general election . Under threat of deselection, in 2003 she resigned as Patricia Hewitt 's PPS to vote against the Iraq War , having previously voted to support the Government's policy on 26 February. She lost her seat at the 2005 general election to David Howarth of the Liberal Democrats . Campbell's defeat
1320-510: The News , boasting that he had been back in Cambridge while police were searching for him, and bragging: 'I am not worried now. Police, people, courts, nothing worries me now.'" Cook committed his first rape in Springfield Road, Cambridge on 18 October 1974. He later told police that he had originally intended to commit burglary but had unexpectedly been confronted with a young woman wrapped only in
1375-419: The 1970s he sometimes submitted letters to the Court of Appeal supporting the reduction of his sentences. When asked towards the end of his career whether he had been stung by the criticism he had received, Stevenson replied "A lot of my colleagues are just constipated Methodists". There was no compulsory retirement age for a judge with Stevenson's length of service, which resulted in some speculation following
1430-589: The French section of the Special Operations Executive (SOE). They were divorced in 1942, and she married Buckmaster. Stevenson married his second wife, Rosalind Monica Wagner, the sister of Sir Anthony Wagner , in 1947, and together they had a son – who also became a barrister – and a daughter. After the war, Stevenson stood as the Conservative Party candidate to represent Maldon in
1485-596: The German submarine U-852 for their actions in what became known as the Peleus affair . In 1954 Stevenson represented the government of British Kenya during Jomo Kenyatta 's unsuccessful appeal against his conviction for membership of the rebel organisation Mau Mau . Later that year he represented the litigants in the Crichel Down affair , which led to changes in the law on compulsory purchase . In 1955 he defended Ruth Ellis ,
1540-509: The Krays had only told the truth twice during the trial: when Reggie referred to a barrister as "a fat slob" and when Ronnie accused the judge of being biased. In 1970 he controversially gave what were seen as excessively long sentences to eight Cambridge University students who took part in the Garden House riot , a demonstration against the Greek military government that turned violent. He noted that
1595-422: The announcement of his retirement from the bench in 1979 that perhaps his unpopularity with certain sections of the media and establishment had led to pressure on him to step down. In an article published on the day of Stevenson's retirement, Corinna Adam of The Guardian observed that: He [Stevenson] holds the record among Old Bailey judges for having his sentences queried and taken to appeal. He also holds
1650-449: The army and served until 1945 as a Deputy Judge Advocate with the rank of major ; he was appointed a King's Counsel in 1943. In 1945 he served as Judge Advocate at the war crimes trial in Hamburg of former personnel of the German submarine U-852 , the so-called Peleus affair. The U-boat captain, Heinz-Wilhelm Eck , was accused of ordering his crew to open fire on the survivors of
1705-622: The bar in 1925 he joined the chambers of Wintringham Stable at 2 Crown Office Row, now Fountain Court Chambers . He remained there for the rest of his legal career, save for the war years, eventually becoming head of chambers. Most of Stevenson's early legal work was in the field of insolvencies , "almost always with small fees", and he made steady progress until the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. He did very little criminal work in this part of his career. In 1940 he joined
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1760-525: The bombings, but had admitted to addressing three envelopes. His sentence was reduced to ten years on appeal. Stevenson turned down a chance to join the Court of Appeal , a decision he later regretted, and was subsequently critical of some of its decisions. He was appointed a privy counsellor in the 1973 New Year Honours . His reference to the Sexual Offences Act 1967 as a "buggers' charter" earned him
1815-472: The defence by saying: "Let me make this abundantly plain: there is no question here but this woman shot this man ... You will not hear one word from me – or from the lady herself – questioning that." The jury took 23 minutes to find Ellis guilty; she was sentenced to be hanged, the last woman executed for murder in the United Kingdom. Public revulsion at the case is thought to have played
1870-443: The deficiencies of the prosection was an abuse of process, which left an innocent man under the suspicion that there might have been something in the talk of mass murder after all". Stevenson was of the opinion that had he been allowed to, he "could have successfully prosecuted Adams on six murder counts". Journalist Rodney Hallworth reports that Stevenson said of Adams' decision not to give evidence in court "I firmly believe justice
1925-551: The end of hostilities. When they did not honour this promise, the Martens successfully campaigned to be allowed to buy the land back. The case led to a public enquiry, changes in the law on compulsory purchase, and the first resignation of a government minister since 1917. According to fellow judge Eustace Roskill , Stevenson's "fluent delivery, distinctive voice, remarkable sense of timing, and pungency of phrase soon marked him out as an advocate of note." One commentator described him as
1980-617: The explanation." The academic lawyer Rupert Cross described Stevenson's pronouncement as "gibberish", and to the Court of Appeal in 1977 it seemed that Stevenson had made a distinction "without a difference". Although Stevenson's direction was not in accordance with the law in 1964, Parliament introduced a form of caution under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 that reflects what he proposed. His earlier suggestion that defendants in criminal trials should be forced to answer prosecution questions has not been adopted. Stevenson believed that it
2035-427: The last woman to be executed for murder in the United Kingdom. He was deeply distressed by the execution of Ellis, for whom there had been no defence in law, but whom Home Secretary Gwilym Lloyd George was expected to reprieve. Two years later, Stevenson took part in the unsuccessful prosecution of John Bodkin Adams for the murder of Edith Alice Morrell . Stevenson became a High Court judge in 1957, and acquired
2090-464: The notoriety of a few cases .... he showed great mercy to those whom he saw to be victims rather than aggressors." In the early 1970s, while conducting training sessions in sentencing for newly appointed recorders, Stevenson summed up his attitude: "You sentence off the top of your head. If the man's a shit, down he goes. If there's something to be said for him, you do your best not to put him inside." Despite his stern and authoritarian reputation, in
2145-558: The programmes he took part in was Granada Television 's six-part series The Bounds of Freedom , broadcast in 1979. Stevenson died in St Leonards on 26 December 1987. A memorial tablet to him and his wife was erected in the Church of St Mary the Virgin, Rye, in 1992. Anne Campbell (politician) Anne Campbell (born 6 April 1940) is an English Labour Party politician. She
2200-453: The record for getting away with it. He has gradually become such a stock hate-figure that lawyers tend automatically to advise their clients, if found guilty, to take their cases higher up. Stevenson married Anna Cecilia Francesca Imelda Reinstein, daughter of a Bavarian hairdresser, in 1929. They had one daughter. He "turned her [his wife] out" after he discovered that she had been having an affair with Colonel Maurice Buckmaster , head of
2255-500: The sentences would have been even longer but for the students' exposure to "the evil influence of some members of the university". There were few, if any, examples of serious violence at student demonstrations in the years which followed the trial. The following year he gave a 15-year sentence to Jake Prescott, a member of the Angry Brigade , for conspiracy to cause explosions. Prescott had been found not guilty of direct involvement in
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2310-497: The war". After Dunn's attack, several high-profile legal figures came to Stevenson's defence, among them fellow judge and biographer Lord Roskill , who pointed out that Stevenson could be merciful to those he regarded as victims. Lord Devlin described Stevenson as the "last of the grand eccentrics". Mr Justice Stevenson retired from the bench in 1979 aged 76, and died at St Leonards in East Sussex on 26 December 1987. Stevenson
2365-488: The young Stevenson would join the family firm once his schooling was complete. There was no money available to allow him to attend university, so Stevenson studied for an external London University LLB degree after becoming an articled clerk in his uncle's legal practice. Stevenson was determined to become a barrister , and joined the Inner Temple , of which he became the treasurer in 1972. Shortly after being called to
2420-483: Was a moderate, and is now considered unlikely to have been a member of the organisation. He was imprisoned until 1959, lived under house arrest until 1961, and became the first president of the newly independent Kenya in 1964. Also in 1954 Stevenson represented the Marten family in the Crichel Down affair . The Air Ministry had compulsorily purchased land for bombing practice before the war, promising to return it after
2475-516: Was an English barrister and, later, a High Court judge , whose judicial career was marked by his controversial conduct and outspoken views. After establishing a legal career in the field of insolvency , Stevenson served during the Second World War as a Deputy Judge Advocate General of the Armed Forces . He was subsequently Judge Advocate at the 1945 war crimes trial of former personnel of
2530-504: Was arrested on 8 June 1975 after he had stabbed a young woman. When apprehended he was cycling away from the scene of the crime whilst wearing a long blonde wig. He was also found to be in possession of women’s clothing and lipstick. Police searching his home discovered more female clothing and make-up as well as ether, with which he had subdued his victims. They also found copies Cook had made of keys to women’s hostels. On 3 October 1975, Peter Samuel Cook pleaded guilty to six counts of rape and
2585-664: Was born in Newquay , Cornwall , on 17 October 1902, the eldest child and only son of the Reverend John George Stevenson and his wife Olive, sister of Henry Wickham Steed , journalist and editor of The Times from 1919 until 1922. The Rev. J. G. Stevenson, a Congregational minister, died when his son was fourteen years old, plunging the family into relative poverty. An uncle who was a solicitor funded Stevenson's ongoing education at Dulwich College in London, intending that
2640-481: Was given two life sentences. Cook died of natural causes in Winchester Prison on 9 January 2004 at the age of 75. In 1995, moves to have Cook released on parole or moved to an open prison were opposed by Cambridge MP Anne Campbell , resulting in the then Home Office minister Michael Forsyth pledging that Cook would not be released until he was no longer considered a danger to the public. The Sex boutique in
2695-420: Was in part attributed to her perceived indecisiveness over the government's university top-up fee programme: she abstained on the second reading of the bill, then voted with the government on the third reading, despite a public promise that she would oppose the scheme. Campbell was described as a "loyal Blairite " in the national press. In 2008, Campbell was portrayed by Harriet Walter in 10 Days to War ,
2750-552: Was on the right wing of all of them. — Lord Devlin Bathurst [ Viscount Bledisloe ] used to recount the story of Stevenson trying a manslaughter case in which a man who had run over a child pleaded, in extenuation, that he had thought the child was a dog; the judge, a great spaniel lover, promptly gave him the maximum sentence. I must confess I cannot tell whether you are innocent or guilty. I am giving you three years. If you are guilty you have got off lightly, if innocent let this be
2805-497: Was put in charge of 60 officers to hunt for the rapist. Det Supt Hotson said that he was convinced they were dealing with a local man. At the time, the search for Cook was one of Britain’s biggest manhunts. The BBC reported, "He has generally managed to keep his face hidden but some victims said they believed he was wearing a wig and a false beard." Cook’s spree of attacks came to an end at the Owlstone Croft nurses' hostel, where he
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#17328524773682860-736: Was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Cambridge from 1992 to 2005 . She studied at Newnham College, Cambridge , taking the Maths Tripos, and gaining an MA in 1965. Before she became an MP she was a councillor on Cambridgeshire County Council from 1985–9. She was a secondary school mathematics teacher in Cambridgeshire, a lecturer in Statistics at Cambridge College of Arts and Technology (became Anglia Higher Education College in 1989) from 1970 to 1983, and head of Statistics and Data Processing at
2915-436: Was the judge's duty to help prevent crime by imposing robust punishments on those found guilty, and he became noted for the severity of his sentencing, which led to occasional calls from the " liberal establishment " for his resignation. In 1969 he sentenced the Kray twins , Reggie and Ronnie, to a minimum of 30 years in jail each, saying, "In my view, society has earned a rest from your activities." He remarked later that
2970-486: Was transferred to the Queen's Bench Division , where he presided over criminal cases. He then began to attract press attention. Known for his outspokenness, Stevenson described one case as a "pretty anaemic kind of rape", because the victim was the accused's ex-girlfriend and had been hitch-hiking, before sentencing the man to a two-year suspended sentence. To a man acquitted of rape, he remarked "I see you come from Slough . It
3025-411: Was unsuccessful. However, Cook returned the following day and committed his next rape, the first he had committed in daylight, whilst the victim of the previous night’s attempt was at the local police station reporting the earlier break-in. His sixth victim described him as wearing "black leather trousers and jacket and a leather hood with eye-slits". In April 1975, Detective Superintendent Bernard Hotson
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