A former police officer and BBC health and safety officer plotted to become a serial killer and would have ‘surpassed’ Jack the Ripper if he wasn’t caught. Then, he was allowed to walk free – at the cost of women and children
A ‘potential serial killer’ who was freed from prison despite plotting the murders of women and children has now been jailed again for sickening new crimes.
Brian Darby, a convicted sex offender who wormed his way into positions of power in the police force and then at the BBC, stalked at least six women in London and plotted a chilling rape and murder spree that would have “surpassed” Jack the Ripper.
In 2002, after nearly murdering a mother who miraculously managed to escape his wired noose, he was handed two life sentences for the terrifying mass killing plot. Police firmly believed that he would have become a serial killer if he hadn’t been stopped in his tracks.
And he didn’t act alone. After grooming a 14-year-old girl called Jeannette White, the pair formed a deeply troubling and tumultuous relationship, and she eventually became an accomplice to his heinous plans. They both fantasised about the depraved violence and worked together to find potential victims. Darby even described White as ‘my Myra Hindley’.
Despite fears about just how dangerous Darby could become – and his two life sentences – he was released from prison in 2017. The British man, now 80, used his freedom to indulge in his violent fantasies – all at the cost of women and children.
Almost as soon a he was freed, Darby started looking at indecent pictures of children online. When he was arrested in February this year, after creating and distributing indecent images of children that he had created using AI, police also found a series of online chats where he had shared horrifying fantasies about raping and murdering women.
Darby pleaded guilty to a string of new offences, including 14 counts involving the possession and distribution of Category A-C indecent images of children and several counts of publishing obscene articles. Today, he has been sentenced to four years in prison, with an extra two years on licence once released.
Now grave questions have been raised as to how this monster was allowed to walk the streets again after police labelled him a “potential serial killer”.
Here, the Mirror looks at Darby’s life of depravity – from his warped relationships and sex offences against children to using positions of power to lure potential victims and reoffending after his astonishing release…
Brian Darby’s dark early life
Born into an ordinary, church-going family in Leicester, Darby’s early years remain murky and unremarkable, and as a young man, he drifted between jobs. Eventually, driven by an obsession with crime, Brian opted to carve out a career in the police force, enrolling on a course at Hendon Police College in 1972 and graduating as a probationary constable.
But while he may have given the outward appearance of a law-abiding professional, remembered as “reliable, straightforward and efficient” by his superintendent, Darby had a far more sinister side, which didn’t take too long to emerge.
From childhood, Darby was obsessed by true crime, with Jack the Ripper being a particular source of fascination. Between the years 1888 and 1891, the still unnamed murderer skulked around the streets of London’s impoverished Whitechapel, preying on vulnerable women.
For most, the Ripper remains a source of fear and repulsion, but for Darby, he was a hero. During Darby’s short policing career, another grotesque figure emerged, a man who would later become known as the Yorkshire Ripper. It was against this lurid backdrop that Darby sought to follow in their footsteps.
At 26, Darby met Jeanette White, a vulnerable 14-year-old girl who lived in Westbury on Trym in Bristol, according to an investigation by the award-winning crime podcast Murder Mile. He would later describe her in warped letters as “my Myra Hindley”.
For the next 28 years, the pair engaged in an on-and-off relationship, with Jeanette sliding into an alcoholism so severe that she was drinking up to 11 litres of cider daily by the time she reached her 40s.
It was a grim setup, but still, even as he groomed a child into being his lover and accomplice, Darby’s true nature didn’t immediately become apparent. When he committed his attacks, he did so far from his patch, ensuring nobody would recognise him. In June 1979, the then-34-year-old travelled some 40 miles to a Birmingham playground, where he targeted a five-year-old boy, forcing kisses on him.
Darby fled the scene after being punched by the boy’s father, but was quickly arrested. That same month, Birmingham Crown Court tried Darby for indecent assault, but it was ultimately determined that this was a ‘one-off’, brought on by the stresses of life on the force’, and his punishment was relatively light.
According to the Leicester Daily Mercury, the judge, who fined Darby £200, told him: “Perhaps the best thing that could have happened to you, in order to bring you to your senses, was the punch on the nose the boy’s father gave you.”
Darby’s career in the police, however, was over, and he resigned voluntarily after his actions came to light. He set up home with White in Bristol and later in Lavender Hill, North London. While their relationship was a turbulent one, seeing them marry twice, the couple put on a caring front, even reportedly raising money for the Salvation Army together.
All the while, Darby bounced around between low-status jobs, opting for those that wouldn’t pry too closely into his grubby criminal record. In the 1980s, however, Darby found employment as a health and safety officer with one of the UK’s most prestigious institutions – the BBC. He would go on to use his employer’s trusted credentials to seek access to women’s homes.
The Shropshire Star would later report that, following an affair, Darby even ended up marrying White’s sister, but they later rekindled their twisted romance, exchanging letters totalling some 450 pages in which they discussed serial killing, rape, cannibalism, and necrophilia.
The heinous mass murder plot
It was in 2000 that they took their vile fantasies to the next level and began to seek out a woman for the purposes of their own disgusting sexual gratification. Answering adverts in Loot posted by women with rooms to let out, Darby narrowed in on and stalked six potential victims, spurred on by Jeanette.
White urged Darby to visit a woman in Westminster, with their letters detailing how he would kill the intended victim and her two children. One chilling letter read: “In our journey of everlasting union, we need the living body of a female to use. Her death will be our birth.”
While Darby plotted to carry out the attack on the Westminster woman, he was ultimately scared off as a workman was already at the property. But he would strike again, with things escalating once more on Halloween night, 2000.
Posing as a BBC researcher, even recording a fraudulent interview on a dictaphone, Darby called at the home of a 45-year-old Ealing mother. Intending to rape and kill the woman, Darby placed a wire noose around her neck. Showing extraordinary courage, the mother of four managed to fight Darby off and escape, screaming “like a crazy woman” as she dashed out into the street. As per BBC News, she would later tell the court: “I wanted to be alive for my children.”
Following his subsequent arrest, Darby admitted to attempted murder and was found guilty of aggravated burglary and conspiracy to murder at the Old Bailey. Had he not been caught in time, police believe he could have become a full-blown serial killer. Detective Constable Paul Johnson said at the time: “We strongly believe that Brian Darby was a potential serial killer who we identified before he had the opportunity to successfully carry out his plans to murder women and children.”
Detective Johnson, who helped capture Darby and White, revealed officers’ belief that Darby had intended to emulate the Moors Murderers, the News Shopper reports. It’s understood that Darby worshipped child killers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, and that he and White even went as far as to indulge in grotesque fantasies concerning the pair.
Darby was given two life sentences for attempted murder and conspiracy to murder, plus an additional seven-year sentence for aggravated burglary. Judge Paul Focke told the court that Darby, then 55, would be deemed a risk to members of the public for the foreseeable future, telling of how he and White had partaken in “torrid correspondence involving extreme sexual fantasies”.
Judge Focke told Darby: “You, Darby, have behaved in an evil and unscrupulous way, and you have been a manipulative individual.” White, then 43, was also convicted of conspiracy to murder and handed a seven-year prison sentence. Sentencing White, Judge Focke said: “I recognise you were under the spell of Darby and worshipped him. You would do anything for him and were desperate not to lose him. You were also a willing and enthusiastic supporter of Darby and all his vile plans.”
A dangerous predator released on the streets
This was not the end of Darby’s depravity. The pervert was released in 2017, in what was his seventh parole review. And chillingly, he went on to reoffend. In February, Darby was recalled to prison for breaching his licence conditions.
The nature of the fantasies Darby was indulging in online makes for sickening reading. Some are too graphic to report. One post spelled out the “strangulation of his wife with family gathering around to voice encouragement and advice,” the court heard.
In another post, Darby said schools should “train girls to be sex slaves and dominatrices”, while women should be killed at the age of 30.
In another instance, Darby published “about the killing of wifes being socially accepted as an alternative to divorce”. According to court filings, he also spoke of his “love for strangulation, smothering and drowning”.
At sentencing, Judge John Law said Darby was “emotionally detached and indifferent” when quizzed about his latest set of offending, and “did not appear to be embarrassed or ashamed”.
He said the online rape and murder fantasies “echo” Darby’s 2002 convictions for attempted murder, conspiracy to murder, and aggravated burglary.
Assessing Darby as a dangerous offender, the judge pointed to his “entrenched interest in violent sexual material involving children and adults, your online dissemination of that material and fantasies, and a pattern of offending”.
Why was Brian Darby freed?
To learn more about why Darby might have been deemed safe for release in 2017, the Mirror heard from Marcus Denning, the principal solicitor and senior lawyer at MK Law, has worked on many cases involving sexual offences, predatory behaviour and violence against women and girls. He tells the Mirror of Darby’s 2017 release: “Parole Boards base their decision on psychological evaluations and in-prison behaviour, but luring predatory offenders tend to play the part very well.
“They become familiar with the rehabilitation language, understand what looks like progress on paper and are able to convincingly perform to meet a formal assessment. The board sees an appropriate file, but the reality of what that individual keeps to themselves is not considered. The disparity between what is presented versus actual behaviour is where release decisions go wrong.”
But how was such a dangerous predator able to access such disgraceful materials, just a few years after he sparked such fear amongst officers? Mr Denning said: “There are very few barriers to an offender’s ability to obtain a mobile phone or laptop unless the condition of parole specifically prohibits accessing and monitoring electronic devices.
“Also, platforms with large user bases like Reddit allow individuals to have anonymous accounts for extended periods of time without any intervention to suspend their account. This does not deflect any responsibility from the platform but instead clarifies how this gap is espoused to exploit offenders. Releasing a high-risk offender without any condition on accessing electronic devices is, in practical terms, a release that offers no meaningful constraints on that individual.”
Commenting on what this says about the ongoing monitoring of violent offenders with predatory fantasies, Mr Denning added: “This situation shows a large gap in the monitoring framework’s coverage. Usually, conditions of parole include where an offender lives, the contacts they have and the frequency of reporting.
“But there is a large gap that exists if an individual uses an anonymous online account at 2 a.m. to commit violent acts against women on Reddit, indicating a breach that paperwork cannot capture. The internet was not part of the post-release management framework for high-risk offenders, and it has serious implications.”
Meanwhile, the Parole Board told the Mirror: “We can confirm that a panel of the Parole Board directed the release of Brian Darby in 2017 following an oral hearing. Parole Board decisions are solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public if released and whether that risk is manageable in the community.
“A panel will carefully examine a huge range of evidence, including details of the original crime, and any evidence of behaviour change, as well as explore the harm done and the impact the crime has had on the victims. Members read and digest hundreds of pages of evidence and reports in the lead-up to an oral hearing.
“Evidence from witnesses such as probation officers, psychiatrists and psychologists, officials supervising the offender in prison, as well as the victim’s personal statements, may be given at the hearing. It is standard for the prisoner and witnesses to be questioned at length during the hearing, which often lasts a full day or more. Parole reviews are undertaken thoroughly and with extreme care. Protecting the public is our number one priority.”
And a HMPPS spokesperson said: “Public protection is our number one priority and as this case shows, we do not hesitate to send offenders back to prison if they break the rules.”
Detective Inspector Andy Cook, of the Met’s Online Child Sexual Abuse Exploitation team, also said: “The Met takes offending of this nature incredibly seriously and we are committed to bringing those who share indecent images of children to justice.
“Darby is a vile individual whose previous offending makes this case all the more disturbing. We launched an investigation as soon as we received intelligence that he was suspected of uploading indecent images of children to the internet. Darby was arrested in February and was immediately recalled to prison.
“Extensive digital forensic work on Darby’s phone by Met detectives helped build a strong case against him. He was left with little option except face up to what he had done.”
The Mirror also approached Reddit and the BBC for comment.
If you’ve been the victim of sexual assault, you can access help and resources via www.rapecrisis.org.uk or calling the national telephone helpline on 0808 802 9999
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