Former cop fears 'cover-up' as he alleges link between sex beast Sidney Cooke and young boy's murder

A top detective who probed Britain’s worst paedophile Sidney Cooke can’t rule out a cover-up over a boy’s murder allegedly involving the sex beast.

Ex-Chief Superintendent Roger Stoodley felt there was evidence to accuse Cooke, 88, of killing Mark Tildesley, seven, in Wokingham, Berks, in 1984.

Mr Stoodley’s comments come amid claims that crimes linked to Cooke were never properly investigated.

The Sunday People last week revealed that Cooke has been repeatedly linked to the unsolved murder of eight-year-old Vishal Mehrotra , who vanished in 1981.

And Mr Stoodley says, after revelations about Jimmy Savile escaping justice, he can’t rule out a cover-up over Mark.