KILLER paedophile Sidney Cooke was quizzed by cops over an alleged prison attack on another lag.
Vile Cooke – who at 97 is Britain’s oldest prisoner – was grilled after the other con accused him of throwing a substance at him while issuing threats.
Detectives visited him in jail last week after we revealed the first picture of the fiend for 26 years – where it was claimed he pointed at a lag and hurled abuse as they clashed on a landing.
That incident came before Cooke – suspected of involvement in up to 20 child murders – was battered to the ground with a drinks flask in a vicious attack.
A source said: “Cooke was interviewed in jail but denied chucking the substance at the inmate, who wasn’t really injured.
“They had to question him as the prisoner complained to a jail guard who was duty-bound to report it to police.
“Cooke is still very with it despite his age, remembered the incident and told a different story about their dispute.
“But it did seem ridiculous to some people that they were interviewing a 97-year old about a prison incident.
“He is already in jail and not likely to be going anywhere.
“He was told he faced no further action and there wasn’t really any evidence against him.
“But the attack on him where he was battered to the ground, which is thought to be linked to the first dispute, is being investigated further.”
Cooke was one of a paedophile gang jailed over the 1985 killing of abducted Jason Swift, 14, in east London.
He was later named in court as being involved in other child abductions and murders, after operating with a gang of paedophiles referred to as the ‘Dirty Dozen’.
‘HIGH RISK TO PUBLIC’
Cooke – jailed in 1989 for the manslaughter of Jason – was freed in 1998 amid uproar and taken into voluntary custody for his own protection.
He was then jailed for life in 1999 for abusing two brothers in the 1970s.
Cooke is set for a parole review – his 12th hearing – later this year.
When he was last refused parole in May 2023, Cooke was “assessed as presenting a very high risk of serious harm to the public”.
The Parole Board has said decisions are “solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public if released”.
West Yorkshire Police has been contacted.
The Ministry of Justice declined the opportunity to comment.
