How Bruce Jones from Coronation Street became a suspect in the Yorkshire Ripper case

The actor who played Les features in the new Netflix documentary series


Coronation Street star Bruce Jones features in new Netflix documentary series “The Ripper” to talk about his connection to the Yorkshire Ripper case.

The soap star, who played Corrie’s Les Battersby between 1997 and 2007, shockingly became a suspect in the case after alerting police to a body he had found.

The Ripper on Netflix is a four-part series, made by the same team who created Don’t F**k With Cats. It includes interviews with senior police officers, journalists and family members who were involved and affected by the killings committed by Peter Sutcliffe – including Bruce Jones.

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via Netflix

Bruce Jones was a suspect in the Yorkshire Ripper case after finding one of the victims

Bruce Jones was investigated by police looking for the serial killer in the 1970s. It was Bruce who discovered the body of 20-year-old Jean Jordan in 1977. The mum-of-two had been left in a wasteland in Manchester where Bruce, who was with a local allotment owner, alerted police. Jones also believes on that morning he may have seen Peter Sutcliffe in the bushes, watching him make the discovery. He said he thinks the killer may have got “a kick” out of watching her being found.

After this, Jones was treated as a suspect in the case, which even caused the breakdown of his marriage. At the time, he told The Mirror: “I lost my first marriage, my children. I lost everything because of that. It actually destroyed me to learn that people can do that to a human being. I had nightmares like you wouldn’t believe.”

In a TV interview with Piers Morgan, Bruce Jones recalled of his “pure panic” after being linked to the Yorkshire Ripper case. He said the police probed him about his whereabouts when Jean Jordan had died, saying: “You start thinking, ‘Where was I? What have I done wrong?’ Your mind starts racing. It’s pure panic.”

He told The Sun he attempted to take his own life after the ordeal. “Every time I’d close my eyes I’d see that poor girl and be reminded of what that monster did to her,” he said.

In episode two of the Netflix documentary, “The Ripper”, Bruce discusses the horrific way he found Jean and then rang the police before being questioned.

The Ripper is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news, drops and memes like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook. 

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The full true story of the Yorkshire Ripper hoax which cost £1million and three lives

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Ranked: The best true crime documentaries on Netflix, according to Rotten Tomatoes