Editing Colin Ireland

{{Short description|British serial killer (1954–2012)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2012}}
{{Infobox serial killer
| name              = Colin Ireland
| image             = 
| caption           = 
| birthname         = 
| alias             = Gay Slayer
| birth_date        = {{Birth date|df=yes|1954|3|16}}
| birth_place       = [[Dartford]], [[Kent]], England
| death_date        = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2012|2|21|1954|3|16}}
| death_place       = [[HM Prison Wakefield]], [[West Yorkshire]], England
| penalty           = [[Life imprisonment|5 life sentences]]
| victims           = 5
| beginyear         = 8 March
| endyear           = 12 June 1993
| country           = United Kingdom
| apprehended       = 21 July 1993
| conviction        = [[Murder]] (5 counts)
}}
'''Colin Ireland''' (16 March 1954&nbsp;– 21 February 2012) was a British [[serial killer]] known as the '''Gay Slayer''', because his victims were gay men. Criminologist [[David Wilson (criminologist)|David Wilson]] believes that Ireland was a [[psychopath]].<ref>''Born to Kill?'', [[Channel 5 (UK)|Channel 5]], 21 August 2012</ref>

Ireland suffered a severely dysfunctional upbringing.<ref name=ci>{{cite web|url=https://www.crimeandinvestigation.co.uk/crime-files/colin-ireland|title=Colin Ireland Crime Files|date=30 June 2017|publisher=[[Crime + Investigation (Australian TV channel)|Crime + Investigation]]|url-status=live|accessdate=3 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140519080319/http://www.crimeandinvestigation.co.uk/crime-files/colin-ireland |archive-date=19 May 2014 }}</ref> He committed various crimes from the age of 16 and had served time in [[borstal]]s and prisons.<ref name=ci/><ref name=BM/> While living in [[Southend-on-Sea|Southend]], he started frequenting the [[Coleherne, Earls Court|Coleherne]], a [[gay pub]] in [[Earl's Court]], London.<ref name=McKenna>{{cite news |last=McKenna |first=Neil |title=Fleet Street's perverse cocktail of kinky sex and a serial killer|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/fleet-streets-perverse-cocktail-of-kinky-sex-and-a-serial-killer-neil-mckenna-berates-the-reporting-of-a-series-of-homosexual-murders-1492873.html |work=The Independent |date=20 June 1993 |accessdate=17 August 2013}}</ref> Ireland sought men who liked the passive role and [[sadomasochism|sado-masochism]], so he could readily restrain them as they initially believed it was a sexual game.<ref name=Kirby2>{{cite news|last=Kirby|first=Terry|title=Serial killer locked up for life|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/serial-killer-locked-up-for-life-to-take-one-human-life-is-an-outrage-to-take-five-is-carnage-says-judge-1468716.html |work=The Independent |date=21 December 1993 |accessdate=17 August 2013}}</ref>

Ireland was [[heterosexual]]: he had been twice married to women, he pretended to be gay only to befriend potential victims. Ireland's murders were not sexually motivated.<ref name=Kirby2/> He was highly organised and carried a full murder kit of rope, handcuffs and a full change of clothes to each murder. After killing his victim he cleaned the flat of any forensic evidence linking him to the scene and stayed in the flat until morning in order to avoid arousing suspicion from leaving in the middle of the night.<ref name=Kirby/>

Ireland was sentenced to five counts of [[life imprisonment]] for the murders on 20 December 1993<ref>{{cite news |title=Killer Who Targeted Gays in London Gets Life Term |author=William Tuohy |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-12-21-mn-4196-story.html |work=Los Angeles Times |date=21 December 1993 |access-date=17 August 2013}}</ref> and remained imprisoned until his death on 21 February 2012, at the age of 57.

== Early life ==
Ireland was born in 1954 in Dartford, Kent, to an unmarried [[teenage pregnancy and sexual health in the United Kingdom|teenage]] couple; shortly after his birth, his father left him and his 17-year-old mother. His father is not named on his birth certificate, and Ireland did not know his identity. He was raised in [[Poverty in the United Kingdom|poverty]] and moved home many times. When his mother married and became pregnant she put Ireland into care, although he was later returned to her. She went on to remarry in 1966.<ref name=ci/>

During the 1960s in [[Sheerness]], [[Kent]], Ireland was propositioned on three occasions and spied on once by men who were [[pedophilia|paedophiles]]. In his mid-teens, he was sent to [[borstal]] for theft, and whilst there, [[arson|deliberately set fire]] to another resident's belongings. At age 17, Ireland was convicted of robbery. He escaped and was returned to borstal.<ref name=ci/>

== Early adulthood ==
In the attempt to make ends meet, Ireland had a series of manual jobs,<ref name=ci/> then in December 1975, he was convicted of car theft, criminal damage and two burglaries, for which he was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment.<ref name=ci/> Ireland was released in November 1976 and moved to [[Swindon]], [[Wiltshire]]. He lived with a woman and her children for a few months.<ref name=ci/> In 1977, he was convicted of [[extortion]], for which he was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment.<ref name=ci/> In 1980, he was convicted of [[robbery]], for which he was sentenced to two years' imprisonment.<ref name=ci/> In 1981, he was convicted of attempted deception.<ref name=ci/> 

In 1982, Ireland married Virginia Zammit; the couple and their daughter lived in the [[Holloway, London|Holloway]] area of [[London]].<ref name=ci/> In 1985, he was convicted and sentenced to six months for "[[Cheating_(law)#Going_equipped_for_cheat |going equipped to cheat]]".<ref name=ci/> He divorced in 1987 after his wife discovered he had committed adultery. In 1989, in [[Devon]], he married Janet Young; he was [[domestic violence|violent towards her]] and stole from her.<ref name=ci/> In the early 1990s, they separated; she and her children became homeless. He moved to [[Southend-on-Sea]], where he became homeless and lived in a [[hostel]].<ref name=ci/> He later moved to his own flat. Whilst living there, he travelled to the Coleherne Arms, a [[gay pub]] which specialised in [[S&M]] in Earl's Court, London, where he first met his victims.

== Victims ==

=== Peter Walker ===
Peter Walker, a 45-year-old [[choreographer]], took Ireland back to his flat in [[Battersea]]. There he was bound, and ultimately [[suffocated]] by a plastic bag being placed over his head.<ref name=Kirby>{{cite news|last=Kirby|first=Terry|title=Calculating murderer who preyed on gays|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/calculating-murderer-who-preyed-on-gays-terry-kirby-builds-up-a-picture-of-a-man-with-a-lethal-wish-to-prove-he-was-someone-of-consequence-1468747.html |work=The Independent |date=21 December 1993 |accessdate=17 August 2013}}</ref> Ireland placed two teddy bears in a [[69 (sex position)|69]] position on the body. He left Walker's dogs locked in another room. The day after the murder, having heard no news reports of the crime, he called the [[Samaritans (charity)|Samaritans]] and a journalist from ''[[The Sun (United Kingdom)|The Sun]]'' newspaper, advising them of the dogs, and that he had murdered their owner.<ref name=Kirby/> He told them he wanted to become famous for being a serial killer. A former boyfriend of Walker was later interviewed and told the police that Walker did not enjoy sadomasochism and was most likely forced into it by Ireland.{{cn|date=April 2023}}

=== Christopher Dunn ===
Dunn was a 37-year-old librarian who lived in [[Wealdstone]]. He was found naked in a harness. His death was initially believed to be an accident that occurred during an erotic game.<ref name=Lambert/> In addition, because he lived in a different area from Walker, a different set of investigators worked on the case. For these reasons, the death was not initially linked to Walker's.<ref name=Lambert/>

=== Perry Bradley III ===
Ireland met 35-year-old<ref name=Tru>{{cite web |url=http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/predators/ireland/page_11.html |title=Colin Ireland |publisher=CrimeLibrary |author=Anna Gekoski |accessdate=2011-07-22 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407045507/http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/predators/ireland/page_11.html |archivedate=7 April 2014}}</ref> businessman Perry Bradley III at the Coleherne pub. Bradley lived in [[Kensington]] and was the son of [[Texas]] [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] fundraiser Perry Bradley Jr.<ref name=Lambert>{{cite web|last=Lambert |first=Pam |url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20110794,00.html |title=A Killer Stalks Gay London |work=People|date=12 July 1993 |accessdate=2011-07-22}}</ref>

The two men returned to Bradley's flat, where Ireland suggested that he tie Bradley up; Bradley expressed his displeasure at the idea.<ref name=Tru/> In order to get Bradley to comply, Ireland told him that he was unable to perform sexually without elements of [[bondage (BDSM)|bondage]]. Bradley hesitantly cooperated and was soon trussed up on his own bed, face down, with a noose around his neck.<ref name=Tru/> After Ireland had secured Bradley, he demanded money and a [[Personal identification number|PIN]] under the threat of [[torture]]. Ireland assured Bradley that he was merely a thief and would leave after stealing Bradley's money.<ref name=Tru/> After Bradley gave Ireland his PIN, which Ireland later used to steal £200, along with £100 in cash stolen from Bradley's flat, Ireland told him that he should go to sleep, as he wouldn't be leaving his flat for hours.<ref name=Tru/> Bradley eventually did fall asleep and Ireland momentarily thought of leaving Bradley unharmed. Ireland then realised that Bradley could identify him and used the noose, which he had earlier attached around Bradley's neck, to [[strangulation|strangle]] him. Before leaving Bradley's flat, he placed a doll on top of the dead man's body.<ref name=Tru/>

=== Andrew Collier ===
Ireland, angered that he had received no publicity even after three murders, killed again within three days. He met and courted 33-year-old Andrew Collier, a housing warden, and the pair went to Collier's home in [[Dalston]]. After entering the flat there was a disturbance outside and both men went to the window to investigate. Ireland gripped a horizontal metal bar that ran across the window. He later forgot to wipe the bar for fingerprints during his usual cleanup phase. The police found these prints.<ref name=Lambert/>

Once he had tied up his victim on the bed, Ireland again demanded his victim's bank details. This time his victim refused to comply. After killing Collier's cat, Ireland strangled Collier with a noose. He put a [[condom]] on Collier's penis and placed the dead cat's mouth over it, and placed the cat's tail into Collier's mouth.<ref name=Tru/> Ireland was angered at discovering Collier was [[HIV]] positive while rummaging through his personal effects looking for bank details.<ref name=Kirby/> He then phoned the police, asking why they had not linked the four murders.<ref name=Sky/> He left the next morning with £70.<ref name=Kirby/>

A suspected reason for his killing of the cat was that after Ireland killed Walker and had left this previous victim's dogs locked in a separate room, he later called anonymously to advise parties to the fact that these dogs were being or had been locked up.<ref name=Kirby/> As a result, the media called the killer an animal lover. He strangled the cat to demonstrate that the "animal lover" assumption had been wrong.<ref name=Tru/>

=== Emanuel Spiteri ===

Ireland's fifth victim was a [[Maltese people|Maltese]] chef named Emanuel Spiteri, aged 41, whom he had met at the Coleherne pub.<ref name=Tru/> Spiteri was persuaded to be cuffed and bound on his bed. Once more, Ireland demanded his PIN but did not obtain it. He again used a noose to kill. After carrying out his post-murder ritual of cleaning and clearing the scene, Ireland set fire to the flat and left, however the fire only caused minor damage. 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.<ref name=Kirby/>

==Criminal case==
=== 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/>

=== Trial, convictions and imprisonment ===
Ireland 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 [[Feud|vendetta]] against gay men, but picked on them because they were the easiest targets. Ireland pretended to be gay in order to lure his victims.<ref name=Sky>[http://news.sky.com/home/uk-news/article/16174542 'Gay Slayer' serial killer dies in jail], Sky News, 21 February 2012</ref> He had robbed those he killed because he was unemployed at the time, and he needed funds to travel to and from London when hunting for victims.<ref name=BM>{{cite web |url=http://britmurderers.synthasite.com/colin-ireland.php |title=Colin Ireland |publisher=Notorious British murderers |date=1993-12-20 |accessdate=17 August 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130904204720/http://britmurderers.synthasite.com/colin-ireland.php |archivedate=4 September 2013}}</ref>

When his case came to the [[Old Bailey]] on 20 December 1993, Ireland admitted all charges and was given [[life sentence]]s for each. The judge, [[Michael Sachs (judge)|Mr Justice Sachs]], said he was "exceptionally frightening and dangerous", adding: "To take one human life is an outrage; to take five is carnage."<ref name=Kirby2/>

On 22 December 2006, Ireland was one of 35 life sentence prisoners whose names appeared on the [[Home Office]]'s list of prisoners who had been issued with [[whole life tariff]]s and were unlikely ever to be released.<ref>{{cite news |last=Rozenberg |first=Joshua |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1537597/35-prisoners-are-told-life-means-life.html |title=35 prisoners are told life means life |work=The Telegraph|date=22 December 2006 |accessdate=22 July 2011}}</ref>

Ireland's crimes received sensationalist coverage in the tabloid press. As well as the nickname "The Gay Slayer", he was headlined as "Jack The Gripper" by the ''[[News of the World]]''.<ref>[[Jake Arnott]] (2004), ''True Crime (The Long Firm Trilogy Part 3)'', Hodder General Publishing Division, {{ISBN|0340818573}}</ref>

== Death ==

Ireland died on 21 February 2012, at [[Wakefield Prison]]. A spokeswoman for [[Her Majesty's Prison Service]] said: "He is presumed to have died from natural causes; a post-mortem will follow."<ref name=BBC20120221 >{{cite news |title=Torture murderer dies in prison |date=21 February 2012 |accessdate=22 February 2012 |work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-17117441}}</ref> Later, his death was ascribed to [[pulmonary fibrosis]] and a fractured hip he had suffered earlier in the month as preliminary causes of death.<ref name="PInkNews.co.uk" >{{cite news |title=Exercise yard fall contributed to death of 'Gay Slayer', inquest hears |date=29 February 2012 |accessdate=1 May 2013 |work=Pink News|url=http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2012/02/29/exercise-yard-fall-contributed-to-death-of-gay-slayer-inquest-hears/}}</ref>

== Media ==
* In 2001, Ireland's was one of several covered in the fifth episode of ''[[Infamous Murders]]'' titled "Crimes of Prejudice".
* In 2008, ''[[Real Crime]]'' covered his case in the third episode of series 7 "Serial Killer on Camera".
* In 2012, Ireland was the subject of the fifth episode of series 4 of ''[[Born to Kill?]]''.
* In 2013, Ireland's case was covered in the sixth episode of series 4 of ''[[Crimes That Shook Britain]]''.
* In 2016, Ireland's was one of three cases covered in the first episode of ''[[Encounters with Evil]]'' titled "Thrill Killers". 
* In 2017, Colin Ireland's crimes were covered in an episode of the [[CBS Reality]] series ''Voice of a Serial Killer''.
* In 2019, Ireland was the subject of episode 7, in series 3 of ''[[Most Evil Killers#Season3|Most Evil Killers]]''. on [[Sky UK]]-owned channel, [[Pick (TV channel)|Pick]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Britain's Most Evil Killers Season 3|url=https://www.radiotimes.com/programme/b-idbqiu/britains-most-evil-killers-season-3/|access-date=2021-11-10|website=Radio Times|language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|United Kingdom}}
* [[List of serial killers in the United Kingdom]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080720025553/http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/predators/ireland/story_1.html Colin Ireland]
* [http://www.crimeandinvestigation.co.uk/crime-files/colin-ireland/biography.html Colin Ireland in Crime&Investigation Network]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ireland, Colin}}
[[Category:1954 births]]
[[Category:1993 in London]]
[[Category:1993 murders in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:2012 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century English criminals]]
[[Category:Criminals from Kent]]
[[Category:English male criminals]]
[[Category:English people convicted of murder]]
[[Category:English people who died in prison custody]]
[[Category:English prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:English serial killers]]
[[Category:Murder in London]]
[[Category:People convicted of murder by England and Wales]]
[[Category:People from Dartford]]
[[Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by England and Wales]]
[[Category:Prisoners who died in England and Wales detention]]
[[Category:Serial killers who died in prison custody]]
[[Category:Violence against gay men]]
[[Category:Violence against men in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:People with antisocial personality disorder]]