Record revealed
Hoax letter signed by ‘Jack the Ripper’
This is one of hundreds of letters in police files claiming to have been written by the infamous Whitechapel Murderer – otherwise known as 'Jack the Ripper'.
Series
Police Complaints Authority and successors: Investigations: Case Files
Catalogue reference: LK 4
What's it about?
LK 4
This series contains case files of investigations supervised, conducted or reviewed by the Police Complaints Authority and its successors, the Independent Police Complaints Commission and the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
Full description and record details
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Reference (The unique identifier to the record described, used to order and refer to it)
- LK 4
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Title (The name of the record)
- Police Complaints Authority and successors: Investigations: Case Files
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Date (When the record was created)
- 1992-2007
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Description (What the record is about)
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This series contains case files of investigations supervised, conducted or reviewed by the Police Complaints Authority and its successors, the Independent Police Complaints Commission and the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
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Arrangement (Information about the filing sequence or logical order of the record)
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Grouped into three subseries, for investigations carried out by the three successive bodies responsible: the Police Complaints Authority, the Independent Police Complaints Commission and the Independent Office for Police Conduct. As of 2026, no records relating to the IPCC or IOPC investigations have yet been transferred to The National Archives.
The paper file for each case or investigation typically consists of multiple parts. Each file part has been described individually at item level in the catalogue. The file parts have generally been arranged in former reference order, except in cases where there was another clear original order which contradicted the former reference order.
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Held by (Who holds the record)
- The National Archives, Kew
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Legal status (A note as to whether the record being described is a Public Record or not)
- Public Record(s)
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Language (The language of the record)
- English
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Creator(s) (The creator of the record)
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- Independent Office for Police Conduct, 2018-2024
- Independent Police Complaints Commission, 2004-2004
- Police Complaints Authority, 1985-2004
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Physical description (The amount and form of the record)
- 13 file(s)
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Access conditions (Information on conditions that restrict or affect access to the record)
- Open unless otherwise stated
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Immediate source of acquisition (When and where the record was acquired from)
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From 2025 Independent Office for Police Conduct
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Subjects (Categories and themes found in our collection (our subject list is under development, and some records may have no subjects or fewer than expected))
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- Topics
- Policing
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Custodial history (Describes where and how the record has been held from creation to transfer to The National Archives)
- Records created by the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) were passed on to its successor, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) in 2004. Custody of the PCA records and the records created by the IPCC were then passed on to the Independent Office for Police Conduct when it was established in 2018.
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Accruals (Indicates whether the archive expects to receive further records in future)
- Series is accruing.
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Record URL
- https://beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/id/C19949679/
Catalogue hierarchy
Over 27 million records
275 records
You are currently looking at the series: LK 4
Police Complaints Authority and successors: Investigations: Case Files
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