Police have been accused of covering up a serial killer who murdered 18 people by pushing them in front of trains on the London Underground.
Former detective Geoff Platt alleges in his book The London Underground Serial Killer that officers refused to investigation claims by violent drifter Kiernan Kelly that he had committed the murders, as they were scared of causing mass panic.
The Telegraph says that Kelly was being investigated for another killing in 1984 when he made the claims. Platt said Kelly appeared "proud" of the murder before confessing to pushing 18 people on the tracks of the Northern Line in the 1970s.
"He was loaded with adrenaline he was loaded with testosterone, he couldn't stop talking and he came out and started telling everything," Platt said.
Kelly was already in custody for robbery when he strangled his cell mate for snoring.
Although Platt's first reaction was to suspect that Kelly was making up the claims, he started investigation and found that he was at the scene of numerous reported suicides.
"What immediately came to notice was that there were a number of people who jumped off the platform into the Northern Line," he said.
Yet Platt claims senior officers refused to investigate as they were afraid of causing mass panic if word got out that a serial killer was able to push 18 people on the track with impunity.
A spokesman for British Transport Police said: "We are aware of the claims included in this book but given the passage of time since they are alleged to have been committed these would prove difficult to substantiate without further evidence.