Killer paedo Sidney Cooke, 97, seen for 1st time in 26 years as vid shows him rowing with lag at ‘Monster M...

KILLER paedophile Sidney Cooke is seen for the first time in 26 years — as he prepares for his latest get-out-of-jail bid.

The 97-year-old fiend, set for his 12th parole hearing, has shaved off his beard and sports a bruised head after apparently being attacked.

He is also seen in a shocking video seemingly threatening a lag and throwing a substance at him while his sick associates look on.

Cooke, suspected of involvement in up to 20 child murders, paces the corridor in grey trousers and white jumper at HMP Wakefield, where he tries to intimidate others despite his age.

A source said: “Cooke looks very different now as he is so old and now clean-shaven.

“But there is no mistaking it is him, and he remains the face of evil.

“He has a bruise on his forehead after another inmate apparently hit him with an object.

“Cooke hangs around with other like-minded people in Wakefield, who have committed similar crimes.

“It is sick but they flock together and it allows Cooke to try to intimidate people.”

The source went on: “He is in no way rehabilitated.

“He still says he is an innocent man and his behaviour inside shows he is still a danger.”

The last picture of Cooke — showing him with a grey and black beard and wearing a blazer and shirt — was taken in 1999.

He was jailed in 1989 with others for the 1985 killing of Jason Swift, 14, in Hackney, East London.

But he was freed in 1998, sparking uproar before he was taken into voluntary custody for his own safety.

Cooke — suspected of other killings with a network of paedos known as “the dirty dozen” — was jailed for life in 1999 for abusing two brothers in the 1970s.

Our video and photo were taken in 2023, six months after his last failed parole bid.

He is due for an oral hearing in May, a month after he turns 98.

Former Met Police detective Peter Bleksley said: “Cooke should die behind bars.

“The fact he is still well enough to have an argument on a prison wing shows he is still a danger.”

The Parole Board said: “Decisions are solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public if released.”