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Teeth of Lions Rule the Divine - Rampton

Bruce George Peter Lee, born Peter George Dinsdale, is a British serial killer who confessed to 11 arson attacks and was convicted of 26 counts of manslaughter, 11 of which were overturned on appeal. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1981. Lee was born in Manchester to a mother who was a prostitute. He was brought up in care homes and suffered from epilepsy and congenital spastic hemiplegia in his right side, leaving him with a limp and the compulsion to hold his right arm across his body. As an adult, he worked construction jobs, where he was known as “Daft Peter”. When his mother remarried, he changed his surname to that of his stepfather - Lee - and changed his name in homage to Bruce Lee. 

On December 4, 1979, a fire occurred at a house on Selby Street, Hull. Inside the house were Edith Hastie and her sons Thomas, 15, Charles, 15, Paul 12, and Peter, 8. The family were asleep at the time the fire broke out. Charles saved his mum by pushing her out of an upstairs window but couldn’t help his brothers, Paul and Peter - the draft caused by opening the window fed the fire. All three were trapped and severely burned. Charles died overnight, Peter died 2 days later and Paul died after a further 12 days in hospital. Thomas, who also had muscular dystrophy, survived by escaping from a window in a back bedroom. Edith Hastie had 3 daughters who, luckily, were staying elsewhere that night. Her husband, Tommy, was in prison at the time. Police investigating the arson attack discovered that the Hasties were a “problem” family, responsible for petty crime and vendettas; this led them to look for an arsonist who may have been out for revenge. Lee was one of many teenagers who volunteered to be questioned about the fire. 6 months after the inquiry began, he confessed to pouring paraffin through the letterbox and lighting it in an attempt to get revenge against Charles Hastie, whom he had been sexually active with. Lee said Charles Hastie threatened to go to the police, since he was a minor, unless Lee paid him off. Lee had also been repeatedly rejected by Angeleena Hastie, Charles’ sister.

When Lee confessed to the Selby Street fire, he said “I didn’t mean to kill them,”, telling police how Charles had demanded money for his silence over their illegal sexual activities. More questioning led to Lee confessing to starting 9 more fatal fires in Hull over the previous 7 years. None of the fires were treated as suspicious at the time. 26 people had died in these fires, ranging from a 6-month-old baby, a young mother and her 3 small sons and 11 elderly men in a care home, Wensley Lodge. Dozens more suffered smoke inhalation or burns as a result of escaping. Lee claimed that most of the fires were random, he just loved fire, and rarely thought about people’s lives when he started them. Only three fires, including the Hasties’, were at houses owned by people he knew and had a grudge against. Officers drove Lee around Hull to the locations he had mentioned, so Lee could point out the buildings in question. Later research showed that fires had been set at each of the properties Lee identified. Lee said that hearing of the killings he had caused led him to seek solace in the Bible, although he did not stop or confess. He later offered apologies while awaiting trial.

Rampton - Teeth of Lions Rule the Divine 2002 CD