Kelly was a violent vagrant convicted of two brutal murders in 1984

But Kelly's admission was brushed aside due to public chaos it may create

He said Kiernan Kelly pushed people onto Tube train tracks in the 1970s

A former detective has sensationally claimed Scotland Yard covered up a man's confession he pushed 18 people to their deaths on the London Underground.

Geoff Platt says convicted killer Kiernan Kelly told police he murdered 18 people but it was covered up due to fears it would cause chaos among the public.

Kelly, a dangerous vagabond known for ill-tempered and drunken acts of violence, claimed to have pushed most of his victims onto train tracks on the Northern Line in the 1970s.

A former detective has claimed Scotland Yard ignored a man's confession he pushed 18 people to their deaths on London Underground tracks in the 1970s

Mr Platt, 60, told MailOnline he first met Kelly when he was interviewed for murdering another homeless man in a jail cell scuffle in 1984.

Picked up by police for a robbery, Kelly was angered that his cellmate William Boyd was 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.'

During the subsequent interview, he appeared 'proud' of the murder and confessed to killing 18 other people, Mr Platt said.

'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.'

Mr Platt was then assigned with investigating his claims, and to his astonishment, realised there were a number of reported suicides on the Underground 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.'

Mr Platt details the claims his latest book (pictured) called The London Underground Serial Killer

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

Despite the seriousness of the allegations, police decided not to brief the press or public about the case due to concerns everyone would be too scared to ride the Tube.

Mr Platt told the Daily Star: 'It was a cover up. Think about it, the police don’t want it getting out - there would be mass panic.

'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.'

Mr Platt details the claims his latest book called The London Underground Serial Killer.

It wasn't until Kelly was prosecuted for the killing of Boyd did the true extent of his crimes emerge.

He was also convicted of killing Hector Fisher - another vagrant found dead from stab wounds in a Clapham Common graveyard in 1975.

Although he was questioned by police in connection with the death, there was no evidence linking him to the crime and it was not until his confession in 1984 that it was attributed to him.

Two years following Mr Fisher's death - fellow vagrant Maurice Weighly was found murdered in Soho and his face and genitals mutilated.

Despite being charged with his killing, Kelly was acquitted after his defence lawyer destroyed the prosecution's star witness's credibility - revealing he was blind drunk at the time.

And perhaps most tellingly, he was charged with attempted murder in 1982 for pushing an elderly man onto train tracks at Kensington Station. However, he was acquitted due to a lack of evidence.

A British Transport Police spokesman 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.