08/01/01 - Doc says i'm no
danger
GARY JONES
The Mirror
EVIL killer Peter Sutcliffe has sensationally claimed
that one of Britain' s leading psychiatrists no longer
considers him a threat to society.
The 54-year-old, who murdered 13 women, says Broadmoor's
consultant psychiatrist Andrew Horne "no longer
considers me a danger".
His sensational claims come almost 20 years to the
day he was arrested, ending his murderous reign of terror.
Sutcliffe, who was told he should serve at least 30
years, believes he has been cured of the "voices
from God" he once blamed for making him kill.
The devoted Jehovah's Witness - who revealed that ministers
visit him twice a week to pray and read bible passages
- has been told that it is possible he will one day
be freed.
In a revealing letter to a pen-pal from the Berkshire
Hospital, Sutcliffe said: "At my last Mental Health
Review Tribunal Dr Horne told them that he no longer
considered me a danger to anyone!
"So I was pleased about that as he was so right.
"I now realise how ill I was all those years ago
and I owe a lot to the doctors here for making me well."
Friday was 20 years to the day that the former grave-digger
and HGV driver made his first appearance in court charged
with murder.
Sutcliffe still receives injections of anti-psychosis
drugs Stellazine and Depixol but his medication has
been levelling off in recent years.
His condition has recently "improved considerably"
according to hospital staff, who regard the brutal murderer
as a model inmate.
Sutcliffe, blinded in the left eye after inmate Ian
Kay stabbed him with a pen in 1998, has a close relationship
with Dr Horne, whom he praises for helping him accept
and cope with his mental illness.
The mass killer listens intently to everything the
doctor says, and has taken his advice learn as much
as possible about his medical state.
He now spends most of his spare time "living quietly
in solitude" and enjoys reading the Bible and listening
to the radio.
Sutcliffe also used to go to handicraft classes to
do oil painting, but since being on anti-psychotic medication
he says he has lost the inspiration to paint.
But he says it has been been worth it because, for
the past six or seven years, he has been been well and
hasn't heard the voices as he used to.
Hospital psychiatrists are keen for Sutcliffe - housed
in Broadmoor' s Dorchester Ward - to have as many family
visits as possible to get an understanding of the outside
world.
But the one person Sutcliffe is desperate to see one
more time is his cancer-stricken dad John.
Sutcliffe fears John, who lives in Bingley, Yorks,
has little time left to live.
The 76-year-old has not met his son since 1993 but
they have maintained telephone contact.
Sutcliffe is worried about his dad, who has cancer
of the bladder, angina and has had a triple heart bypass.
But the killer says he hopes he will be able to visit
him sometime in the New Year if he is well enough and
if Broadmoor arrange transport and overnight accommodation
for him.
Sutcliffe reveals he tried to arrange to visit him
but his doctor wouldn't write to the Home Office for
permission because he thought someone there would inform
the Press.
Sutcliffe still speaks warmly of his ex-wife Sonia,
who is credited with helping improve his mental well-being.
Sonia, who with new husband Michael Woodward treats
peoples for illnesses and stresses with alternative
medicines, still regularly sees her ex-husband.
Sutcliffe says the couple are still on good terms and
Sonia comes to see him whenever she can.
He claims he has a loyal family and a few good friends.
Sutcliffe has three sisters and two brothers and sees
his sister Maureen and her husband quite often because
they have moved down to Surrey.
Sutcliffe tells how an average day spans out in Broadmoor.
He reveals how he gets up at about 6.30am, has a wash
and then goes back to his room, gets dressed and lies
on his bed listening to the radio until breakfast at
8am.
He then goes back to his room and usually gets busy
answering any letters he may have received the previous
day.
He also does bible studies twice a week with ministers
who come in on Tuesdays and Thursday.
They leave him with studies to prepare - something
he enjoys doing as well as studying the bible.
Sutcliffe's reign of terror began on July 5, 1975,
when he attacked Anna Rogulskyj. She survived.
His first recorded killing was mother-of-four Wilma
McCann in Leeds on October 30, 1975.
It was after murdering Irene Richardson, in February
1977, that he was dubbed the Yorkshire Ripper.
He was arrested on January 2, 1981, by officers in
Sheffield's red light area, who spotted false number
plates on his car. Two days later he confessed to being
the Yorkshire Ripper.
Four months later he pleaded not guilty but a majority
verdict of 10-2 found him guilty of murdering 13 women
and the attempted murder of seven.
He was sentenced to life for each, with a recommendation
that he serve at least 30 years.
Lord Woolf, the Lord Chief Justice, recently suggested
that politicians should no longer have the power to
set sentence "tariffs" for murderers.
But a Home Office spokesman admitted it would take
a "very brave" Home Secretary to agree that
Sutcliffe should be freed.
Broadmoor declined to comment on his mental state.
A spokeswoman said: "Dr Horne is away on holiday
and cannot be contacted but, in any case, he would not
want to comment about his patient." |
