I listened to the Dark Histories podcast about Spring-Heeled Jack last night, which provided more details than I'd previously been aware of.
Of particular interest was the description of women he had assaulted being left "witless", "hysterical" and "unlikely to regain their senses" seemingly being Victorian euphemisms for women left traumatised having been raped or seriously sexually assaulted.
Jack himself apparently wore a long fur (possibly bear-skin) coat and hood, which he would throw aside to reveal a lantern, some sort of grotesque mask and metallic partial body armour including clawed gauntlets, which he would use to rip the extensive Victorian clothing off his victims, often wounding them in the process. When fleeing the scene, he had a strange, bounding gait, giving rise to his nickname. There was only one account of him jumping unfeasibly high, which was likely an exaggeration. I suspect his unusual lopsided running technique may have been due to a knee injury or arthritis (bit like how I hobble around a cricket pitch these days).
So, strip away all the media hysteria, stoked by the likes of The Sun, Illustrated Police News and assorted "Penny Dreadfuls" and you are left with a serial sex-offender, with a notable limp, wearing an innovative disguise, enhanced by some magician-like pyrotechnic effects. Sadly, his notoriety resulted in several copycat incidents around the country and continued for many decades.