LESLIE BAILEY

Leslie Bailey

While prison murders occur for a variety of reasons—sadly often including race—there is a certain subset of the prison population that is targeted more frequently than others: pedophiles. The murder of Leslie Bailey is a good example. Bailey was in a gang of child molesters led by Sidney Cooke, now considered one of the most notorious pedophiles in England. The group would either hire rent boys or kidnap young boys for gang rapes. Cooke’s gang are suspected of killing up to nine different boys during these orgies.

Bailey, Cooke, and two other men were all involved in the kidnap, rape, and murder of a seven-year-old boy, who they lured away from a fair to a nearby trailer owned by Cooke. At the trailer they drugged and gang raped him before he died. His body has never been found—despite Cooke admitting to knowing the location. The other confirmed murder occurred when Cooke charged three men, including Bailey, £5 to rape a 14-year-old named Jason Swift, who died as a result. Bailey was the only one who confessed to the crimes. As a result, he was given two life sentences, while Cooke and the other men were only charged with Swift’s murder.

Bailey chose to be in a segregated area of the prison for his own protection. Despite this, on October 19, 1993, he was strangled to death by two inmates, Michael Cain and John Brookes. It has been theorized that the killing was carried out as a favor to one of the victim’s families, although—despite what television might have you believe—revenge-style killings orchestrated from the outside are not common.

In another twist, Cain, who was already serving a life term for murder, later had his sentence reduced by 10 years.