Ripper's release date appeal
PETER Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper, is appealing to the High Court to find out if he will eventually be released from prison.
Sutcliffe, who was charged at Dewsbury Magistrates’ Court with the murder of 13 women in 1981, will hear within months the minimum time he must spend behind bars before he can be considered for parole.
The judge at his trial recommended he be jailed for 30 years but did not set a formal tariff.
On Monday Mr Justice Mitting said Sutcliffe could appear in the High Court this year to witness the decision on the minimum tariff he must serve.
The judge said a psychiatrist’s report might also enable Sutcliffe, 63, to appeal against his convictions for murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
Kevin Murray, a consultant psychiatrist at Broadmoor secure hospital, wrote that Sutcliffe had been wrongly convicted of murder, as he was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia at the time of the killings.
He wrote that Sutcliffe had responded well to treatment and could be safe for release.
Sutcliffe was convicted of murdering 13 women and attempting to murder seven more.
One of the 13, Helen Rytka, worked at Bysel in Heckmondwike.
After a six-year reign of terror across Northern England, Sutcliffe, of Bradford, was arrested for driving with false number plates in Sheffield in January 1981.
He was transferred to Dewsbury Police Station where he was questioned about the Ripper case because he matched the physical characteristics of the killer.
Officers returned to the scene of his arrest and found a hammer, knife and rope.
After further questioning he confessed he was the Ripper and was charged before Dewsbury magistrates – then based near the town hall – on January 5.
The prosecution at Sutcliffe’s trial initially accepted the view of doctors that Sutcliffe had schizophrenia, and sought to have him placed in a special hospital.
But the judge, Sir Leslie Boreham, insisted there should be a trial so a jury could give a verdict on the killer’s sanity.
After hearing the prosecution case that Sutcliffe was merely pretending to have heard “divine voices”, the jury concluded that Sutcliffe was not suffering mental illness and was therefore guilty of murder not manslaughter.
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Weather for Batley
Wednesday 08 February 2012
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