22/05/81 - Ripper gets 20 life
terms - police inquiry opens
by Nick Davies and Malcolm Pithers
The Guardian
The Chief Constable of West Yorkshire last night ordered
an inquiry into the force's handling of the hunt for the
Yorkshire Ripper in the wake of the 20 life sentences
passed on Peter Sutcliffe at the Old Bailey.
The need for an inquiry was taken up in the House of Commons
by Yorkshire MPs who also attacked the Attorney General
Sir Michael Havers for his role in the prosecution of
Sutcliffe. Sir Michael opened the 15 day trial by telling
the judge Mr Justice Boreham that he did not believe that
Sutcliffe was guilty of murder.
He told the judge that he accepted the view of doctors
who diagnosed Sutcliffe as a schizophrenic. But the judge
refused to accept this and yesterday the jury decided
that he had murdered 13 women in the Yorkshire area between
1975 and 1980.
The judge passed sentences of life imprisonment for each
of the 13 murders as well as the seven attmpted murders
which Sutcliffe admitted at the start of the trial. He
said he hoped that Sutcliffe would never be released and
recommended that he should serve at least 30 years before
release was even considered.
One of the defence psychiatrists was called into the witness
box to confirm that the state of Sutcliffe's schizophrenia
was such that "he should be in custody for the rest
of his natural life". The judge said that 30 years
was an unusually long period but added: "I believe
you are an unusually dangerous man."
After passing sentence the judge commended three of the
officers from the Ripper Squad for their impeccable conduct.
He also commended the two Sheffield officers who arrested
Sutcliffe in January and later found weapons which he
had tried to conceal.
The acting assistant Chief Constable of West Yorkshire,
Mr Jim Hobson, who was at the Old Bailey said that it
was ridiculous to suggest that they could have caught
Sutcliffe earlier. "The judge has answered most of
these criticisms" he said "I am very pleased
with what he has said."
But in Leeds his chief constable, Mr Ronald Gregory, said
that some of his senior officers would start an internal
inquiry. "There will be some reorganisation and some
changes made in the light of our experience" he added.
He said that Sutcliffe had been "extremely lucky
and very clever."
He added: "The truth is that we never had sufficient
evidence to charge Sutcliffe. He was interviewed several
times at home. His wife gave him alibis and nothing was
found in his garage or car". He had never been among
the 60 top suspects.
The mother of Sutcliffe's last victim, Mrs Doreen Hill,
said at the court that she intended to question Mr Gregory
about the police investigation."Certain aspects of
the police handling of the case I am no keen on"
she said. The mother of another victim, Mrs Irene Macdonald,
also supported the call for an inquiry.
In the Commons, Mr Bob Cryer, Labour MP for Keighley,
called on the Home Secretary to add his weight to the
post-mortem." There are some clear blunders and discrepancies."
He said. Mr Tom Torney, Labour MP for Bradford South,
added: "I absolutely deplore the Attorney-General's
stance in this matter, and the judge was quite right to
refuse to accept these pleas." Sutcliffe's wife,
Sonia was not in court to hear her husband sentenced.
The back row was taken up with relatives of the dead and
survivors of some of Sutcliffe's attacks. All said that
they were glad the jury had agreed on a murder verdict.
"If they'd have said diminished responsibility I
would have exploded" said one.
The jury of six men and six women took five hours and
fifty-five minutes to reach their verdict and did so only
after the judge, Mr Justice Boreham told them that they
need not be unanimous. When they returned at 4:18 it took
the jury foreman seven minutes to deliver the 13 verdicts
of murder by a majority of 10 to two to the clerk of the
court, Mr Michael MacKenzie.
The judge then turned to the dock: "Peter William
Sutcliffe, the jury have found you guilty of 13 charges
of murder and if I may say so, murder of a very cowardly
quality.
"It is difficult to find words that are adequate
in my judgement to describe the brutality and the gravity
of these offences and I say at once I am not going to
pause to seek these words. I am prepared to let the catalogue
of your crimes speak for itself."
The judge said that in deciding on his sentence he had
considered the depth in human terms of the terror which
he had brought to a wide area of Yorkshire. "It is
a population which to my knowledge does not lack fortitude.
But I am left in no doubt that women from a wide area
were in the deepest fear and I have no doubts too that
the fear spilled over to their men folk on their account."
He said he had also considered the danger which Sutcliffe
would represent in the future if he were at large. "I
have no doubt that you are a very dangerous man indeed"
he added. "The sentence for murder is laid down by
the law and is immutable. It is a sentence that you be
imprisoned for life." |
