Fears boy who vanished watching Charles and Diana wedding 'taken by paedophile'

14 January 2023 , 13:16

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Vishal Mehrotra was eight when he disappeared, and his body parts were later discovered in woodland in Sussex (Image: Mirrorpix)

Chilling new evidence has provided further links between one of the UK's most notorious paedophiles and an eight-year-old boy who vanished on the day of Charles and Diana's wedding.

Schoolboy Vishal Mehrotra disappeared after watching the wedding procession on July 29, 1981.

Now filmmakers have uncovered a diary they believe strengthens the case against fairground worker Sidney Cooke, who led a depraved gang known as the 'Dirty Dozen'.

Vishal's body was found in woodland 50 miles away from where he vanished months later.

Cooke, now 95, has been behind bars for the last 34 years - having been jailed for the manslaughter of 14-year-old Jason Smith and a string of sex offences.

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Back in 2015, The Mirror reported that Cooke had been mentioned multiple times in police files by investigators looking into Vishal's death.

Paedophile Sidney Cooke has been linked with Vishal's death (Mirrorpix)

Now Channel 4 documentary series In the Footsteps of Killers - featuring Silent Witness star Emilia Fox and criminologist Professor David Wilson - has unearthed a diary suggesting Cooke was in the area where Vishal's body was found.

The book, written by Cooke's housemate Dennis Moran, places the paedophile in Goodwood, West Sussex, on the Royal wedding day.

Vishal's remains were found in Alder Copse, close to the village of Rogate, 13 miles away.

Prof Wilson told The Daily Mail that the finding could be "very significant", adding: "We also know that he knew this area because he had encyclopaedic knowledge about fairs and fairgrounds and we know that there was a campsite that fairground workers would use here and there's every chance he was aware of Alder Copse."

He continued: "I hope we've done enough to demonstrate to the Sussex Police that they should regard Sidney Cooke as a prime suspect,' he added, 'and to interview him again before it's too late for Vishambar and his family to get justice."

Prof Wilson said he hopes his investigation can help bring some closure for Vishal's bereaved father Vishambar.

A witness claimed to have seen Vishal on the tube with a member of Cooke's evil paedophile ring (Channel 4)

The filmmakers also spoke with Paige Exelby, whose grandmother reported having seen Vishal and Leslie Bailey - a member of Cooke's sick gang - on the Tube.

Paige said her grandmother saw a man who looked like Bailey "taking note of the boy", and contacted police after seeing Vishal's picture.

"'The next day when she saw a picture of the boy that she had seen on the train in the papers, Vishal Mehrotra, she called the police," she said.

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"They said: "Yeah, we'll send somebody out" and nobody came."

Her grandmother contacted police again when she saw a picture of Bailey in the paper when he was identified as a member of the paedophile ring.

Paige Exelby said her grandmother had contacted police about Vishal's disappearance (Channel 4)

After his son went missing,Vishambarreceived a call claiming he had been abducted by men linked to a VIP paedophile ring.

Cooke is believed to have provided young boys for establishment figures to abuse.

Vishal vanished as he walked home ahead of his family in Putney, West London, on July 29 1981.

They had been watching the Prince of Wales and Diana Spencer ride to their wedding.

The boy was last seen near Elm House guesthouse, where kids were allegedly abused.

Vishal had watched the Royal Wedding in July 1981 on the day he vanished (Tim Graham/Getty Images)

His skull and parts of his torso were found in West Sussex in 1982.

A Sussex Police review by ex detective Alwyn Evans, shows links with abductions and fairground worker Cooke began to be made in the early 80s.

It reveals there were two fairs in the area when Vishal vanished.

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It said “Cooke and his associates” were fairground workers who “ostensibly ‘groomed’ children who visited fairgrounds”.

It cited Mark Tildesley, seven, believed murdered by Cooke, who vanished in Wokingham in 1984.

Dave Burke