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Investigative consultant still searching after Met refused to reopen ‘Jack the Stripper’ case

A consultant for a BBC documentary is still investigating the ‘Jack the Stripper’ cold case after the Met Police refused to reinspect it. 

Neil Milkins, 68, has spent the past 13 years investigating the ‘Hammersmith Nude Murders’, and is convinced that the child murderer Harold Jones from his hometown of Abertillery was the killer.

It is believed that ‘Jack the Stripper’ killed six to eight female prostitutes in the Hammersmith area between 1959 and 1965. 

OLD WAPPING STAIRS: This is where Bridget O’Hara’s body was found in 1965. Photographer: Fin Fahey. 6 January 2006

Milkins was an investigative consultant for the BBC documentary ‘Dark Son: The Hunt for a Serial Killer’ and proved that Jones lived in the area at the time of the murders.

In January 2019, Detective Chief Inspector Jackie Malton and Sergeant Alan Jackaman were willing to reinvestigate the murders and handed in a copy of the documentary to New Scotland Yard.

At that time Milkins made a request for the Met to reopen the case.

The Met responded 13 months later, and Detective Constable Adam Bailey wrote: “To link Harold Jones to any murder other than those for which he is convicted is purely speculative and without any evidential basis.”

Harold_Jones_Prison
WANDSWORTH PRISON: Harold Jones was released from here in 1941. Photographer: Derek Harper. 25th October 2008

Milkins said: “There’s no credit at all for all the hard work that I have done over the 13 year period.”

The letter also said: “We have contacted the production company to request the details of the family members mentioned in the TV documentary however, we have not received a reply.”

Milkins has now got in contact with the lady who lives at Aldensley Road where Jones’ lived, after the production company said they would conduct a scan of Jones’ garden and then never contacted the lady again.

Milkins said: “The woman in the house has allowed me to get sponsors to use ground-penetrating radar in the garden to look for trophies.

“I am 69 this year and fear that myself and all the Hammersmith victims’ family members will not have their minds put at rest as to the identity of the killer.”

If you lived or worked near Acton or Hammersmith from 1959-1964 and remember Harold Jones, you can get in contact with Milkins via his email: [email protected].

The documentary ‘Dark Son: The Hunt for a Serial Killer’ is airing on BBC 4 at 9pm today and is available on BBC iPlayer.

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