Bruce George Peter Lee (born Peter Dinsdale in Manchester, July 31 1960) became one of Britain’s most prolific killers when he was convicted of 26 charges of manslaughter in 1981.
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The son of a prostitute, Lee was brought up in children's homes and suffered from congenital spastic disabilities in his right limbs, which left him with a limp in his right leg and a compulsion to hold his right arm across his chest. He was also severely mentally disadvantaged with an IQ said to be 68, equivalent to a mental age of ten. As an adult, he worked as a labourer and was known locally as "daft Peter". In 1979 he legally changed his name from Peter Dinsdale to Bruce Lee, as a homage to the martial arts star of the same name.
On December 4, 1979, a fire broke out at the home of Edith Hastie and her sons Thomas, Charles (15), Paul (12), and Peter (8) in Hull. The family was asleep at the time.
Charles rescued his mother by gently pushing her out of an upstairs window, but he could not help his other brothers, two of whom were in the same bedroom as him. Charles consequently suffered almost complete burns and died the next day, while Paul and Peter fought for life in Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, which housed the nearest specialist burns unit. Peter died two days after the fire while Paul battled for nine days before also succumbing to his burns. Their mother survived, almost certainly because she was thrown out of the window by Charles, while Thomas was rescued with minor injuries from a back bedroom - he slept there with his mother because he suffered from muscular dystrophy - where the flames were less severe. The fire also killed the family dog.
Charles, Paul and Peter also had three sisters - 16-year-old Angeleena, 11-year-old Nicola, and Peter's twin Sophie - who were staying with relatives elsewhere in the area that particular night. Their father was a prison inmate at the time and was consequently granted immediate release on compassionate grounds.
Because of the presence of paraffin on the floor of the front porch, noticed by fire officers who had extinguished the blaze, police were called in. They set up a makeshift incident room in a local disused church hall and began talking to local people about the fire and the family. They were surprised and shocked by a rather casual response from the neighbourhood regarding the brothers, despite the severity of the fire which led to their deaths. The indifference of the neighbourhood came to a climax at the joint funeral for the boys in January 1980 when a grief-stricken Edith Hastie issued an outburst to the gathering crowd over their lack of sympathy for the loss of her sons. The three boys were buried together in one grave at the Northern Cemetery in Hull.
Once the police had established that the Hasties were known as a "problem" family, responsible for petty crime and vendettas, they began looking for an arsonist who may have been seeking a form of revenge. Lee was one of many teenagers who volunteered to be questioned routinely about the fire. Six months after the inquiry began, he confessed in great detail about pouring paraffin through the letterbox and setting it alight in revenge against Charles Hastie, with whom he had had some sexual contact. Lee had also become infatuated with Angeleena Hastie but she had rejected his repeated advances.[1] Lee said the 15-year-old had threatened to go to the police (as he was a minor) unless Lee gave him money.
During questioning - and to the complete surprise and horror of the police - Lee then went on to confess to starting nine more fatal fires in Hull over the previous seven years. None of the fires was treated with suspicion at the time; inquests recorded misadventure verdicts and arson was never considered. A total of 23 people had died in the blazes, ranging from a six-month-old baby, a young mother and her three small sons, to 11 elderly men in a residential home. Countless more were burned or suffered from smoke inhalation, or received injuries while escaping.
Lee claimed that most of the fires were started at random because he loved fire, and he rarely considered whether he was endangering life when he started them. Only the Hastie fire and two others were at houses owned by people he knew and against whom he bore a grudge.
Investigating officers then proceeded to drive Lee around the city of Hull to the locations he had specified, whereupon Lee then pointed out the buildings in question. Although Lee could not be particular with dates or chronology, research later showed that fires had indeed been started at each of the dwellings he had indicated. Lee said that when he heard of many of the deaths he had caused, he sought solace in the Bible but was not persuaded to stop or confess.
To test Lee's story and rule out any prospect of him being merely a well-informed fantasist, officers deliberately took him to a dwelling where a high-profile fire had occurred but a criminal conviction had already been secured. Lee immediately ruled out his involvement - he said he had never been anywhere near the area - and police knew then that he was being truthful about the number of fatal blazes that he had started.
Despite initially saying he was not sorry for the deaths he caused, as killing was not on his mind when he began the majority of the fires, Lee later offered apologies for his actions while awaiting trial.
In October 1980, Lee was charged with a total of 26 murders, along with alternative offences of manslaughter, as well as eleven counts of arson and two of causing grievous bodily harm (he had admitted in interview to starting a fire in which a young mother and her daughter suffered severe burns but survived).
At his trial at Leeds Crown Court in January 1981, Lee denied every murder charge but pleaded guilty to 26 counts of manslaughter, as well as the arson attacks. The pleas were accepted. He was ordered to be detained indefinitely under the Mental Health Act, with the judge stating that Lee was a psychopath and a danger to the public.
One person who did not live to see Lee's conviction was Thomas Hastie Sr, father of the three boys whose deaths began the inquiry. He died in a motorcycle accident in July 1980, which also injured daughter Nicola, who was his passenger. Two months later, Edith Hastie gave birth to another son.
Lee was initially taken to Park Lane Special Hospital in Liverpool and was later transferred to Rampton Secure Hospital where he remains. It is not known whether he has been earmarked for release at any time. He became the most prolific killer in the UK, yet received relatively little national publicity at the time, in part because he was convicted of manslaughter rather than murder, and also because the trial of the Yorkshire Ripper (Peter Sutcliffe), which was a much more high profile case, was ongoing at the same time. The fact that the Ripper's existence was known throughout the time he carried out his crimes, while Lee committed killings by fire without ever raising suspicion, also gave rise to the contrast in publicity between the two cases. But the fact was that at the time of his sentencing, Lee had admitted killing 26 people -- more than the Ripper, the Black Panther and the Moors Murderers put together.
In 1983, a public inquiry concluded that the fire at the residential home was accidental and that Lee was not responsible for it or the deaths of the eleven residents. Senior fire investigation officers supported the inquiry's conclusions. Lee's eleven relevant manslaughter convictions were duly later quashed on the grounds that such contrary evidence made the convictions uneasy. This reduced Lee's number of victims to 15 people, still more than any other British killer of similar time, and he has continued to claim responsibility for the residential home blaze.
The detective in charge of Lee’s case, Superintendent Ronald Sagar, later launched a libel action against The Sunday Times after they published articles suggesting Lee’s statements had been not entirely voluntary. The paper later withdrew the allegations and offered an apology, with the case finally settling out of court in 1987. Sagar, now retired and awarded an MBE, publicly stated in his critically-acclaimed book on the case, Hull, Hell & Fire, his hope that Lee will one day be deemed fit and safe enough to be freed. That said, it seems very unlikely that Lee will ever be released.
In 2005, Lee was permitted to marry his fellow Rampton patient Anne-Marie Davison, which caused dismay to his victims' families, who were subsequently assured that while Lee was legally entitled to marry, he and his new wife were not entitled to consummate the marriage.
The following people all died as a result of either burns or asphyxiation due to fires started by Bruce Lee at dwellings where they were either a resident or guest. At each fire and subsequent inquest, arson was never considered. Misadventure verdicts were recorded by the coroner in each case.
(The 11 convictions were later overturned on appeal, though Lee maintains his guilt)
Lee also caused grievous bodily harm to 27-year-old Rosabell Fenton and her daughter Samantha, 8-years-old, after setting fire to their maisonette on June 21, 1979. Both suffered serious burns, and Fenton miscarried her unborn baby. He also is known to have set fire to numerous unoccupied dwellings and outbuildings.
Bruce George Peter Lee (born Peter Dinsdale 31 July 1960) became one of Britain’s most prolific killers when he was convicted of 26 charges of manslaughter in 1981. He confessed to a total of 11 acts of arson,[1] and was convicted of 26 counts of manslaughter. 11 of these were overturned on appeal. Lee was jailed for life in 1981.
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Born in Manchester, the son of a prostitute,[2] Lee was brought up in children's homes[3] and suffered from epilepsy[4] and congenital spastic hemiplegia in his right limbs, which left him with a limp in his right leg and a compulsion to hold his right arm across his chest.[5] As an adult, he worked as a labourer and was known locally as "daft Peter".[6] In 1979 his mother remarried. His stepfather's surname was Lee, and Dinsdale changed his name as an homage to Bruce Lee.[7][5]
On 4 December 1979, a fire broke out at the front of a house in Selby Street, Hull. Inside were Edith Hastie and her sons Thomas, Charles (15), Paul (12), and Peter (8). The family was asleep at the time.
Charles rescued his mother by pushing her out of an upstairs window, but was unable to help his brothers. Both were in the same bedroom as he; however, opening the bedroom window had caused a draught which fed the fire.[8] Burned severely, they were taken to the specialist burns unit in Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, where they later died.[9] Thomas survived, escaping through a window in the back bedroom, where the flames were less severe.[6] Mrs. Hastie had three daughters, who were staying with relatives elsewhere in the area that particular night. Her husband, Tommy Hastie, was in prison.[10]
The police set up a makeshift incident room in a former police station on Gordon Street and began talking to local people about the fire and the family. They were surprised and shocked by a rather casual response from the neighbourhood regarding the brothers, despite the severity of the fire which led to their deaths.[11] The indifference of the neighbourhood came to a climax at the joint funeral for the boys in January 1980 when a grief-stricken Edith Hastie issued an outburst to the gathering crowd over their lack of sympathy for the loss of her sons. The three boys were buried together in one grave at the Northern Cemetery in Hull.
Once the police had established that the Hasties were known as a "problem" family, responsible for petty crime and vendettas, they began looking for an arsonist who may have been seeking a form of revenge. Lee was one of many teenagers who volunteered to be questioned routinely about the fire. Six months after the inquiry began, he confessed in great detail about pouring paraffin through the letterbox and setting it alight in revenge against Charles Hastie, with whom he had had some sexual contact. Lee said the 15-year-old had threatened to go to the police (as he was a minor) unless Lee gave him money.[clarification needed] Lee had also become infatuated with Angeleena Hastie but she had rejected his repeated advances.[12]
In the night the fire at the Hastie's home was started, police received an anonymous telephone call, reporting three people driving away from the direction of the house in a Rover 2000 car. Detective Superintendent Ron Sagar and his investigators could trace this car to the local homosexual scene and decided to interview a number of suspects.[13] Sagar accused each of them with starting the fire, hoping that the real killer would then confess.
Lee confessed to the Selby Street fire, saying "I didn't mean to kill them," and told the police how Charlie Hastie had demanded money from him for sexual activities. Moreover Lee had been ridiculed by members of the Hastie family for falling in love with daughter Angie Hastie. This was the reason why Lee had set the fire at the back of the Hastie's house.[1]
During further questioning - and to the complete surprise and horror of the police - Lee then went on to confess to starting nine more fatal fires in Hull over the previous seven years.[14] None of the fires was treated with suspicion at the time; inquests recorded misadventure verdicts and arson was never considered. A total of 26 people had died in the blazes, ranging from a six-month-old baby, a young mother and her three small sons, to 11 elderly men in a residential home, Wensley Lodge. Countless more were burned or suffered from smoke inhalation, or received injuries while escaping.
Lee claimed that most of the fires were started at random because he loved fire, and he rarely considered whether he was endangering life when he started them. Only the Hastie fire and two others were at houses owned by people he knew and against whom he bore a grudge.
Investigating officers then proceeded to drive Lee around the city of Hull to the locations he had specified, whereupon Lee then pointed out the buildings in question. Although Lee could not be particular with dates or chronology, research later showed that fires had indeed been started at each of the dwellings he had indicated. Lee said that when he heard of many of the deaths he had caused, he sought solace in the Bible but was not persuaded to stop or confess.[15]
To test Lee's story and rule out any prospect of him being merely a well-informed fantasist, officers deliberately took him to a dwelling where a high-profile fire had occurred but a criminal conviction had already been secured. Lee immediately ruled out his involvement - he said he had never been anywhere near the area - leading police to believe that he was being truthful about the number of fires he had started.
Despite initially saying he was not sorry for the deaths he caused, as killing was not on his mind when he began the majority of the fires, Lee later offered apologies for his actions while awaiting trial.
On 20 January 1981, he pleaded not guilty at Leeds Crown Court to 26 counts of murder, but guilty to 26 counts of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, and to 11 counts of arson.[16]
Lee was initially taken to Park Lane Special Hospital in Liverpool and was later transferred to Rampton Secure Hospital where he remains. Although he was the most prolific killer in the UK at the time, he received relatively little national publicity at the time, possibly because he was convicted of manslaughter rather than murder, and also because the trial of the Peter Sutcliffe, which was a much more high profile case, was ongoing at the same time.[6]
In 1983, a public inquiry concluded that the fire at the Wensley Lodge was accidental and that Lee was not responsible for it or the deaths of the eleven residents. Senior fire investigation officers supported the inquiry's conclusions. Lee's eleven relevant manslaughter convictions were duly later quashed on appeal.[6][17]
The detective in charge of Lee’s case, Superintendent Ronald Sagar, later launched a libel action against The Sunday Times after they published articles suggesting Lee’s statements had been not entirely voluntary. The judge at Lee's 1983 appeal stated that he was confident that Lee's statements were "freely given"[17] and the paper later withdrew the allegations and offered an apology, with the case finally settling out of court in 1987.[18] Sagar, now retired and awarded an MBE, has stated that he hopes Lee will one day be deemed fit and safe enough to be freed.
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