A man who pretended to be a serial killer, diverting British police from the hunt for the real killer, was remanded to jail until Jan. 9 in Leeds Wednesday.

John Humble, 49, is charged with perverting the course of justice for sending letters and an audio tape to detectives looking into the deaths of 13 women between 1978 and 1979. The spate of killings was attributed to the "Yorkshire Ripper," who eventually turned out to be Peter Sutcliffe, Sky News said.

Sutcliffe was sentenced to life in prison in 1981.

Humble had taunted police for the lack of progress in their investigation and misled them into focusing their inquiry away from Sutcliffe. Humble appeared in court via a video link from Leeds Prison, and spoke only twice -- saying "yes" to confirm both his name and that he could hear the judge clearly.

An application for bail was refused by the judge.