William Bruce Malcolm

William Bruce Malcolm was shot at his flat on the night of Wednesday 16 February 2000 at about 9.30pm.

He was a convicted paedophile and had been associated with one of the country’s largest paedophile rings.

He was shot once in the head when he answered his door. He survived and was taken to hospital in an ambulance but died on the way.

The police said that they were interested in tracing two men that were said to have been seen running or walking away from the scene. They were described as being aged in their 30s, 5ft 10ins tall and dressed in dark clothing.

It was thought that his murder was a contract hit in some way associated with his previous convictions or associations.

He had earlier been convicted for unlawful intercourse with an eight-year-old girl and buggery of a nine-year-old boy in 1981 and later in 1984 he was convicted again for attempted intercourse and abuse of the same girl. In 1981 he was jailed for two years and after his release was allowed back to his family where he again assaulted the children and was then sentenced to four years.

One of the children that he abused said that he had boasted to him that he had been present when Jason Swift was murdered for which Sidney Cooke, Leslie Bailey, Robert Oliver and Stephen Barrell were convicted, and whom it was said that he had been involved with. It was also heard that William Malcolm would invite Leslie Bailey to his house to join in assaulting his children.

Later in 1994, he was tried at the Old Bailey on 13 counts including rape, indecent assault and cruelty and the judge said that it had been with considerable regret that he had to acquit him on a legal technicality owing to the fact that he would not get a fair trial due to his previous convictions.

The police also questioned him over the murders of Jason Swift, Mark Tilsley and Barry Lewis.

It was also said that he might have been murdered because he was going to expose a larger paedophile ring involving well known people.