Sex attacker dubbed 'The Fox' died of heart attack

A serial sex attacker dubbed "The Fox" died from a heart attack in prison, an inquest has heard.

Malcolm Fairley was sentenced to six life terms in 1985 after carrying out a series of sex attacks across Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire, sparking one of the largest manhunts in British criminal history.

The 71-year-old was found dead at HMP Hull on 28 May 2024. An inquest at Hull Coroner's Court earlier heard the provisional cause of his death was a myocardial infarction, or heart attack.

However, assistant coroner Sarah Middleton could not conclude the inquest because of a prison investigation and has adjourned it for a later date, which is yet to be fixed.

Ms Middleton told the court she wanted to hear evidence of what happened during the night shift at the prison at the time of Fairley's death.

The court heard Fairley had been "dead for quite sometime" before he was found and the assistant coroner was waiting for the outcome of an investigation.

Fairley was nicknamed The Fox because he would build dens in the houses he broke into while waiting for the occupants to return.

He prepared and ate meals in their homes, watched television and collected trophies before committing violent attacks, including rape and indecent assaults, while masked and brandishing a shotgun.

At the height of his offending, in the summer of 1984, there were three attacks in one week.

Two hundred officers were involved in the hunt for him.

Fairley also committed break-ins and sexual crimes in South Yorkshire and his native north east.

He was arrested in September 1984 at his home in Kentish Town, north London, after forensic evidence linked his car to an attack.

At the time of his arrest, Fairley had committed 81 offences.

It emerged last month he had been eligible for parole board hearings.

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