Colin Ireland born 1954, a former soldier who had been convicted for burglary and robbery in his twenties, decided to become a serial killer as a New Year resolution at the beginning of 1993, when he was 39.
Ireland claimed to be straight and had been married , he lived in Southend and hung about in The Coleherne, a pub popular with gay men, he feigned being gay to lure pub patrons into his clutches.
The clientele wear colour-coded handkerchiefs depending upon their masochistic preference, submissive or dominant, to make cruising easy and to avoid misunderstanding.
Peter Walker a choreographer, approached Ireland in the pub and then they left for Walker's flat in Battersea. After he was willingly bound and gagged by Ireland, he was subjected to a beating which Ireland gave with his fists and a dog lead.
Ireland then killed him by suffocating him with a plastic bag. After cleaning the flat to get rid of clues he went through Walker's personal items and found him to be HIV positive. Enraged he stuffed a condom into Walker's mouth.
The next day Ireland phoned the Samaritans to tell them where he had locked up Walker's dogs before he killed their owner.
Two months later, Ireland returned to the same pub and picked up Christopher Dunn, a Librarian. Again the murder took place in the victim's flat, in Wealdstone. Dunn was wearing a body harness and had been willingly handcuffed and had his feet tied together. Ireland then beat, tortured and suffocated his victim. Before killing Dunn he got his pin number for his bank card as he was unemployed.
Six days later, Ireland once again picked up a man at the pub. It was Perry Bradley III, who was 35 and the son of a serving US congressman. They went to Bradley's flat in Kensington, and Ireland persuaded him to be tied up . Once his victim was helpless, Ireland again used torture to get his bank card number. He delayed the killing until Bradley had actually fallen asleep, still trussed up, and then strangled him with a noose. Again he cleaned the flat and left the next morning.
There was enough distance between the murders for police to think they were just sex games that went wrong.
Ireland, angered that he had received no publicity even after three murders, killed again within three days.
At the pub he met and courted 33-year-old Andrew Collier, a housing warden, and the pair went to Collier's home in Dalston. Once he had tied up his victim on the bed, Ireland again demanded his victim's bank details. This time, however, his victim refused to comply. Ireland strangled him with a noose.
Ireland left the next morning with £70, having also killed Collier's cat in an angry reaction to finding out his victim was HIV positive while rummaging through his personal effects in an attempt to find the bank card number. Another alleged reason for killing the cat was because when Ireland killed Peter Walker and protected the dogs, by locking them in a room, the media called him an animal lover so, in order for Ireland to prove the media wrong he killed Andrew Collier’s cat and draped it over his dead body.
Ireland left the next morning with £70, having also killed Collier's cat in an angry reaction to finding out his victim was HIV positive while rummaging through his personal effects in an attempt to find the bank card number. Another alleged reason for killing the cat was because when Ireland killed Peter Walker and protected the dogs, by locking them in a room, the media called him an animal lover so, in order for Ireland to prove the media wrong he killed Andrew Collier’s cat and draped it over his dead body.
Ireland finally left a clue for the police: He put a condom in Collier's mouth, just as he had done to Walker, creating a visible link between the two murders.
The fifth victim of Ireland's series (he had read that serial killers needed at least five victims to qualify as such) was Emanuel Spiteri, aged 41, a chef whom Ireland had met in the same pub.
They went to Spiteri's flat in Catford, and again Spiteri was persuaded to be cuffed and bound on his bed. Once more, Ireland demanded his bank number but didn't get it. He used a noose again to kill his victim.
After carrying out his post-murder cleaning and clearing the scene, Ireland set fire to the flat and left. He rang the police later to tell them to look for a body at the scene of a fire and added that he would probably not kill again. However, he had forgotten to wipe off one set of fingerprints he had left on the window.
After carrying out his post-murder cleaning and clearing the scene, Ireland set fire to the flat and left. He rang the police later to tell them to look for a body at the scene of a fire and added that he would probably not kill again. However, he had forgotten to wipe off one set of fingerprints he had left on the window.
At last the police connected all five killings, and word spread fast among the whole of London, not just within the gay community, that a serial killer who specifically targeted gay men was operating and could strike again at any time.
Investigations revealed that Spiteri had left the 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. Ireland recognised himself and decided to tell police he was the man with Spiteri but not the killer he claimed to have left Spiteri in the flat with another man. However, police had also found the fingerprints in Collier's flat which matched those of Ireland.
He was charged with the murders of Collier and Spiteri, and confessed to the other three while awaiting trial in prison.
He told police that he had no vendetta against gay men, but picked on them because they were the easiest targets. He had robbed those he killed to finance his killings because he was unemployed at the time, and he needed funds to travel to and from London when hunting for victims.
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