'Babes in the Wood' murders: Paedophile Ronald Jebson dies 'secretly' in hospital

Jebson was serving three life sentences for murdering three children

Susan Blatchford pictured circa 1970 (James Gray /REX)

A convicted paedophile, who murdered three children in crimes dubbed the “Babes in the Wood” killings, has secretly died in prison.

Ronald Jebson snatched Susan Blatchford, 11, and Gary Hanlon, 12, from the streets of Enfield, North London, in March 1970. He then drove the children to Epping Forest, Essex, where he sexually assaulted and strangled them, before he dumped their bodies in the woods.

He was arrested four days later after he was caught indecently assaulting an 11-year-old boy, and was jailed for five years - going unpunished for the Epping Forest murders.

Following his release in 1973, Jebson lived with his friend Robert Papper and his daughter Rosemary. But he was jailed for life after he callously strangled the eight-year-old.

It was some three decades after he claimed the lives of his first known victims that Jebson confessed to their murder, and was handed two further life sentences, which he served at HMP Frankland in Country Durham under his birth name Ronald Harper, according to The Mirror.

Jebson died aged 76 on 17 April. As is the case with all prison deaths, his passing will be investigated by the Prisons & Probation Ombudsman, a prison service spokesman toldThe Independent.

The paedophile died of kidney failure at the University Hospital of North Durham, according to MailOnline, which reported that it was his final wish for his death to remain a secret. However, prison sources last night leaked the news.

Gary’s mother Beryl Hanlon told the website that she was "glad" that Jebson was gone.

"I just don't want him to be able to hurt anyone else's children.

"I still have nightmares. I just can't sleep at night. I wake up crying sometimes I just can't understand how some people are so evil.

"I keep imagining what Jebson did to him," she said.

Rosemary Papper's sister Samantha Humbles said: "He deserves to rot in hell".