10 Most Devious Punk Rock Tricks And Hoaxes

8. The Blanks - Accidental Prediction Of Death

This Peterborough, UK band only released one 7” single during their brief career, entitled Northern Ripper (1979), the alternate name for the real-life serial killer who had been stalking towns in Yorkshire and at that time had still not been caught.

During a live performance of the song, bassist Allen Adams stated on stage, as a ‘joke’, where the next victim might be killed. The gag backfired when he turned out to be correct. After the location of the next victim was announced on the news, someone who had been in the audience that night informed the police, and Adams was subsequently visited and investigated as a potential suspect.

Peter Sutcliffe (1946-2020) would eventually be caught and convicted of murdering thirteen women and the attempted murder of seven others between 1975 and 1980, later becoming known as the ‘Yorkshire Ripper’. From 1984, he spent most of the remainder of his life in Broadmoor Secure Hospital before being declared fit to be returned to prison in 2016 where he died of COVID-19 in 2020.

Contributor

Ed was born in Peterborough, UK, and despite travels far and wide, still lives the in area. He is an exceptional nerd in regard to history, gaming, film, and music. He writes about all these subjects, and his first solo book on the topic of mental hospitals/asylums was published in 2022.