In early September, 1888, police enquiries amongst the Whitechapel unfortunates uncovered the existence of a sinister character whom the East End street walkers had nicknamed "Leather Apron", so called because he habitually wore such a garment.
As the police began searching for this menacing figure, a journalist from The Star newspaper began investigating the allegations against him, and, on the 4th of September, the newspaper published the first of several sensationalist articles that brought news of this "terror" to a wider audience.
The fact that the articles emphasised "Leather Apron's" Jewish parentage and appearance, stoked up the anti-Semitism that had been growing in the district throughout the 1880s.
When, following the murder of Annie Chapman, on the 8th of September, news leaked out that a freshly washed leather apron had been found close to her body, the anti-Semitism gave way to full scale anti-Jewish unrest, and innocent Jews found themselves victims of the baying Whitechapel mobs.
On the morning of Monday, 10th of September, Sergeant Thick, of the Metropolitan Police's H-Division, arrested John Pizer maintaining that he was the man who was known in the district as "Leather Apron."
Pizer, as it happened, had cast iron alibis for the nights of the murders of both Mary Nichols and Annie Chapman, and the police had no choice but to release him without charge.
Bur the "Leather Apron" scare continued for several more weeks.
In this video, you will learn the full story of the "Leather Apron" scare, and discover how it impacted on the police investigation into and the newspaper coverage of the case.
You will also learn how the suspicions against John Pizer may well have inspired the creation of the name "Jack the Ripper" at the end of September, 1888.