Editing Colin Ireland (section)

=== Investigation ===

There are suggestions that [[homophobia]] on the part of the police delayed the linking of all the murders and that they were initially not handled well,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/may/15/gayrights.ukcrime |work=The Guardian |first=Hugh |last=Muir |title=Officers' homophobia hampered murder investigations, says review |date=15 May 2007}}</ref> but police eventually connected all five killings. The crimes were publicised by the mass media and it quickly became known in the [[gay community]] that a serial killer was specifically targeting gay men.

Investigations revealed that Spiteri had left the Coleherne 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 railway station|Charing Cross station]].<ref name=Tru/> 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.<ref name=Kirby/> However, police had also found fingerprints in Collier's flat, which they linked to Ireland.<ref name=Kirby/>