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Paedophile Sidney Cooke’s potential links to murder of boy, 8, ignored by police

Britain’s most notorious paedophile Sidney Cooke has been linked to the murder of a boy snatched on Princess Diana’s wedding day.

Parts of eight-year-old Vishal Mehrotra’s body were found in woods 50 miles away months later.

Vile Cooke, in a child sex ring linked to the killing of nine boys, was mentioned at least EIGHT times in a censored police report.

Vishal’s father Vishambar last week said the 2005 review “raises more questions than it answers”.

After his son went missing, Vishambar received a call claiming he had been abducted by men linked to a VIP paedophile ring.

Cooke, now aged 88 and serving two life sentences, is believed to have provided young boys for Establishment figures to abuse.

The review was released to this newspaper through Freedom of Information but its findings were seemingly not acted upon.

Vishal Mehrotra

Huge chunks apparently about Cooke and his gang of fellow abusers were removed.

The Sunday People understands one section may relate to information from an informant.

The man apparently said “Cooke and his associates” claimed at least 12 victims, including an “Asian boy”.

Police last week refused to say if Cooke was quizzed about Vishal.

Vishal vanished as he walked home ahead of his family in Putney, West London, on July 29 1981.

They had been watching the Prince of Wales and Diana Spencer ride to their wedding.

The boy was last seen near Elm House guesthouse , where kids were allegedly abused.

His skull and parts of his torso were found in West Sussex in 1982.

Another victim? Kevin Allen, 51, whose brother Martin went missing in London in 1979

The Sussex Police review by ex detective Alwyn Evans, shows links with abductions and fairground worker Cooke began to be made in the early 80s.

It reveals there were two fairs in the area when Vishal vanished.

The case of Martin Allen, 14, who went missing in 1979, has been highlighted by the Sunday People

It said “Cooke and his associates” were fairground workers who “ostensibly ‘groomed’ children who visited fairgrounds”.

It cited Mark Tildesley, seven, believed murdered by Cooke, who vanished in Wokingham in 1984.

It said Thames Valley Police, who investigated Mark’s murder with the Metropolitan Police, “apparently considered the Mehrotra case and a report was forwarded to the Met and Sussex”.

It added: “This report is not amongst the papers.”

Face of evil: Sidney Cooke

The review also mentioned the murder of Jason Swift, 14, and Barry Lewis, six, in 1985.Their bodies were found naked in woods.

Cooke, along with accomplices Leslie Bailey, Robert Oliver and Steven Barrell, were jailed for Jason’s manslaughter in 1989.

Cooke, suspected of Barry’s killing, was not charged. In 1998 the Met asked Sussex to find exhibits from its inquiry into Vishal.

Freed after being jailed for the manslaughter of Jason, Cooke got life in 1999 for child abuse.

Mr Mehrotra believes police “did nothing” and “things were brushed under the carpet” He added: “This edited report asks a lot more ­questions than it answers.”

Police watchdog the IPCC is managing a probe into how the Sussex force handled the Vishal inquiry.