A former London detective claims an Irishman admitted to the murder of up to 18 people in the 1970s, but Scotland Yard chose to cover up the case.

Former detective Geoff Platt told the Daily Mail that Irish killer Kiernan Kelly confessed to the murder of 18 people. Kelly admitted pushing the victims under subway trains on the Northern line of the London Underground system, but the case was covered up as police feared the actions of the serial killer would spark fear among the general public.

Platt first met Kelly while interviewing him about the murder of his cellmate in 1984. Kelly had been arrested for being drunk and disorderly and was being held in a cell with another homeless man, William Boyd.

Enraged by Boyd’s snoring, “Kelly knocked him onto the floor and jumped on his head, kicked him around a bit to make him shut up. Eventually he wrapped his socks around his head and strangled him,” Platt claims.

Platt interviewed Kelly about the incident and it was through this questioning that Kelly admitted to the earlier murders.

“He was loaded with adrenaline; he was loaded with testosterone; he couldn't stop talking and he came out and started telling everything.

“We actually started to think it was b*******. There was a certain caution in some respects.”

Did Scotland Yard cover up London Underground serial killer who claimed 18 lives? http://t.co/KeFqXPt5cq pic.twitter.com/4r4Z1MMjap

— Daily Express (@Daily_Express) July 27, 2015

Although reluctant to believe Kelly, Platt investigated the claims and was shocked to discover that there were several cases throughout the 70s in which people had apparently thrown themselves onto the tracks where Kelly was present at the scene.

“What immediately came to notice was that there were a number of people who jumped off the platform into the Northern Line.”

“But what was especially smacked you in the face was every time someone jumped on the track ... Kelly was next to him.”

Despite evidence suggesting that Kelly may have been telling the truth, and the severity of his claims, police decided to keep the confession under wraps for fear that it would cause panic among commuters and lead to people being too scared to ride the Tube.

Speaking to the Daily Star, Platt claims, “It was a cover up. Think about it, the police don’t want it getting out - there would be mass panic.

Serial killer Kiernan Kelly 'pushed 18 people to their deaths on London Underground' http://t.co/EEPU5iffoj

— James Lloyd (@CaptainJimDandy) July 27, 2015

“They didn’t want people knowing a serial killer got away with pushing innocent people on to the tracks. They’d be afraid it could happen again.

“The public would stop using the Underground which would put more traffic on the roads. It would be chaos.”

Kelly was charged with the murder of Boyd as well as the murder of Hector Fisher, another homeless man who had been found dead with multiple stab wounds in a Clapham Common graveyard in 1975.

Although Kelly had been questioned about the murder, there was no evidence to link him to Fisher’s death until his 1984 confession.

An attempt was also made to charge Kelly with the attempted murder of an elderly man in 1982, who is said to have been pushed onto the train tracks at Kensington station. Due to a lack of evidence, however, he was acquitted.

Former detective Platt sets out these claims in his latest book “The London Underground Serial Killer.”

He writes that Kelly committed most of the murders on the Northern Line of the London Underground close to his Clapham home.

Kelly apparently spent his days drinking out of self-hatred for being attracted to men.

Platt also believes that financial costs may have been part of the reason for the reluctance to investigate Kelly’s crimes.

“At the time of Kelly’s crimes you need to remember that there was no CCTV so there was no evidence to convict him with,” Platt said.

“It was so easy for him to get away with.

“And it would be these days if there was nothing on camera.”

Scotland Yard deliberately “hushed up” the murders of 16 people by a serial killer #Wikileaks #UK #London #Britain http://t.co/qNnBc7I0xJ

— Lor Daiteke (@Amets4) July 27, 2015

When contacted about the claims, a spokesperson for the British Transport Police said, “We are aware of the claims included in this book, but given the passage of time since they are alleged to have been committed these would prove difficult to substantiate without further evidence.

“We would invite Mr Platt to submit any information he has on these matters to us.”

The British Department of Justice was contacted by the Daily Star concerning the whereabouts of Kelly. The Department could not reveal what had happened to the killer, but could reveal that he had not died in prison.

H/T: Newstalk