Talk:Sidney Cooke

This article must adhere to the biographies of living persons (BLP) policy, even if it is not a biography, because it contains material about living persons. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libellous. If such material is repeatedly inserted, or if you have other concerns, please report the issue to this noticeboard.

If you are a subject of this article, or acting on behalf of one, and you need help, please see this help page.

Biography

	Biography portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Biography, a collaborative effort to create, develop and organize Wikipedia's articles about people. All interested editors are invited to join the project and contribute to the discussion. For instructions on how to use this banner, please refer to the documentation.BiographyWikipedia:WikiProject BiographyTemplate:WikiProject Biographybiography articles
	An editor has requested that an image or photograph be added to this article.

British crime (defunct)

This article is within the scope of WikiProject British crime, a project which is currently considered to be defunct.British crimeWikipedia:WikiProject British crimeTemplate:WikiProject British crimeBritish crime articles

Crime and Criminal Biography: Serial, mass, and spree killers Low‑importance

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Crime and Criminal Biography, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Crime and Criminal Biography articles on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Crime and Criminal BiographyWikipedia:WikiProject Crime and Criminal BiographyTemplate:WikiProject Crime and Criminal BiographyCrime-related articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.
	This article is supported by the Serial Killer task force (assessed as Low-importance).

LGBT studies: Person

	LGBT portal This article is of interest to WikiProject LGBT studies, which tries to ensure comprehensive and factual coverage of all LGBT-related issues on Wikipedia. For more information, or to get involved, please visit the project page or contribute to the discussion.LGBT studiesWikipedia:WikiProject LGBT studiesTemplate:WikiProject LGBT studiesLGBT articles
	This article is supported by the LGBT Person task force.

Pedophilia Article Watch (defunct)

This article is within the scope of WikiProject Pedophilia Article Watch, a project which is currently considered to be defunct.Pedophilia Article WatchWikipedia:WikiProject Pedophilia Article WatchTemplate:WikiProject Pedophilia Article WatchPedophilia Article Watch articles

References[edit]

Could you add a reference for this person? Out of caution, we are trying to make sure all the people listed in criminal categories have verifiable sources, even stubs. Thanks --FloNight 20:41, 7 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I'd suggest a source or appropriate citation be added for the claim in the Josef Fritzel paragraph that the pair is 'hated by everyone at Wakefield prison'. Comes across as conjectural. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jonathonnoble (talk • contribs) 19:04, 12 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

"Evil"[edit]

This word keeps being removed, and someone keeps putting it back in. Reminder: this is an encyclopedia, not a tabloid newspaper. No matter your opinionn, there are certain language standards for an encyclopedia and not using emotive words is one of them. nebbish 10.53 8 August 2007

Sidney Cooke has often been referred to as Britian's worst paedophile, and similar descriptions. There are very few people as dangerous as him, despite his age. Whilst I agree with the above comment and don't personally add such words as 'evil' to Wikipedia biographies, it is a very commonly used word to describe this leader of an exceptionally sadistic gang that have committed some of the worst sexual offences against vulnerable young boys, for kicks. It is very difficult not to feel strong, justified hatred against Cooke, which is probably why such wording is used. Werdnawerdna (talk) 15:40, 15 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The reference to "non-consensual anal sex" should be replaced by sodomised or such, the implication being that it is possible to have consensual sex of any kind with a 7 year old. Not in these islands. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.132.253.79 (talk) 17:21, 28 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Brass Eye[edit]

A reference to a 2001 episode on the paedophilia issue keeps being added to this article. I have just checked the source, having decided that it does improve the Brass Eye article itself. The version I removed a few minutes ago contains an omission, as the source indicates that in the programme itself an 8 year old boy is reported as supposedly having been sent into space with Cooke, not instead of him. See Jenny McCartney "Are there no limits?", Daily Telegraph, 29 July 2001, which was the citation used for the formerly included passage. In the context of the Brass Eye article the absurdity of the very idea of sending Cooke into space is clear, a response to the "lock him up and throw away the key" attitude, if you like, which then goes horribly wrong. It helps to convey, in my opinion, the constructive intention of Chris Morris and his colleagues. In Cooke's own article though, the passage's inclusion looks gratuitous, and after a detailing of the severity of Cooke's crimes, appears to trivialise them. The legitimate objection to censorship in Wikipedia editing policies does not mean we have to include crashingly insensitive juxtapositions of sourced material. Philip Cross (talk) 16:49, 23 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I agree with Philip Cross that whilst the passage is suitable for inclusion in the Brass Eye article itself, in Cooke's own biographical article, given the severity and sickening nature of Cooke's crimes, the passage about Brass Eye under the subheading "In Popular Culture" appears insensitive. Whilst the passage is sourced and of course Wikipedia is not censored, I don't think that including this passage is necessary or important. It doesn't seem an improvement to the biographical article in terms of an overall encyclopedic tone. As per WP:BOLD and also WP:HTRIV, I have therefore today removed the two sentences relating to this. Kind Tennis Fan (talk) 05:13, 26 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Update: After examining the revision history of the article, I discovered that following a year in which the passage about Brass Eye was not included, it was put back into the article again in December 2016 by an IP editor, with the edit summary "Important detail". This IP editor was subsequently globally blocked for long-term abuse. This convinces me even more that Philip Cross was correct and it is right to remove the unimportant content for a BLP article – which the abusive IP editor claimed was "Important detail". Kind Tennis Fan (talk) 05:37, 26 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for your work. Philip Cross (talk) 05:42, 26 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

citation for early life section[edit]

There are only one citation in the early life section "Cooke: The predatory paedophile" that says nothing about him joining the British Army or going to prison and being released in 1952

"Cooke was born on 18 April 1927 in Stroud, Gloucestershire. Before enlisting in the British Army in August 1945, Cooke worked as a farm labourer. Cooke was eventually released in 1952 after serving many prison sentences for being away without authorisation. As a soldier, Cooke was deemed to be "unsatisfactory". External Links Library (talk) 00:37, 30 April 2023 (UTC)[reply]