Manchester 'Beast' filed down his teeth so that he could kill again

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

The twisted guile of a serial killer led to him being released from custody - only to kill again. Having been arrested on suspicion of murdering a 17-year old girl, Trevor Hardy committed an act of self mutilation that allowed him to slip through the police's net. Dubbed 'The Beast of Manchester', Hardy's three victims all lost their lives within a small area to the north east of Manchester during a 15-month period.

Starting at the end of 1974, Hardy's crimes overlapped with the start of Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe's five year killing spree. There were similarities between the two in terms of the widespread terror they inspired.

In neighbourhoods such as Moston and Blackley, women were reluctant to go out alone after dark, and men would be asked to escort them home from nights out. Here, M.E.N True Crime writer Lee Grimsditch looks back at one of the most disturbing episodes in Greater Manchester's criminal history. Born in 1947, Hardy had been in trouble for much of his life.

Before the killings began, he had been released on parole after serving time for battering a man over who was paying for a round of drinks.