IT was described by the prosecuting barrister as haunting and sinister and by the judge as cleverly contrived.

The creator himself admitted it was eerie when he was questioned by police about it more than a quarter of a century after it was made.

The taunting tape at the centre of the Yorkshire Ripper inquiry is part of one of the most infamous hoaxes in history.

As the four charges of perverting the course of justice were put to suspect John Humble on Monday, and he answered guilty to each, the voice was unmistakable.

And when a recording of a call Humble made to the police at the height of their search claiming the tape was a hoax was played, it sent a chill down the spine.

A video clip taken from one of Humble's interviews following his arrest last October has been released by West Yorkshire Police.

It shows detectives asking the 50-year-old to re-read the message he posted 27 years earlier - and the voice is as menacing as ever as he delivers the words.

When Humble was questioned and the tape is played to him, he says: "It's eerie."

Asked if he takes full responsibility for it, he answers: "Aye, it was me. That's my voice. It was eerie, like, wasn't it?"

He goes on to say: "I must have been mad... I must have been mad... I feel crap... for putting the coppers off, in a way."

As an unemployed and bored 23-year-old, Humble had sat at his home in Halstead Square, Sunderland, with a 1970s tape recorder and a carefully crafted and researched script.

He made sure there were no fingerprints on the cassette or any other give-away clues, and set about producing a two-minute recording that was to shock the nation.

Paul Worsley QC, prosecuting, said the tape's author had taken great care and did not record it in haste.

He said: "He had chosen his words painstakingly.

"He had written himself a script. His speaking was measured, without hesitation or mistake; no background noise to help identify where the recording had been made.

"It was a haunting and sinister recording."

Defence barrister Simon Bourne-Arton argued that Humble had not tried to disguise his voice.

He said: "He accepts that he read from a script. He spoke in his normal voice. He did not attempt to place any sinister emphasis on the delivery of that script.