11/03/97 - Ripper is stabbed
in both eyes
Matthew Brace
Independent
The Yorkshire Ripper, Peter Sutcliffe, was in a "serious"
condition last night after he was stabbed in both eyes
with a fibre-tipped pen during an attack by a fellow patient
at Broadmoor Hospital.
Sutcliffe, 50, was taken by ambulance from the Berkshire
secure hospital to the Eye Unit at Frimley Park Hospital
in Surrey with serious injuries to both eyes. It was
not known whether he has lost sight in either of his
eyes.
Broadmoor confirmed the incident happened shortly after
3pm yesterday in an open ward. A spokeswoman said that
Sutcliffe was transferred to Frimley Park and then,
later in the evening, taken back to Broadmoor.
"The patient is now back at Broadmoor," a
statement from the hospital said.
"We are, after all, a hospital and are equipped
to carry out post- operative care in the infirmary."
However, the spokeswoman would not confirm reports
that Sutcliffe was stabbed by fellow patient Ian Kay,
who was convicted of the murder of the Woolworth's trainee
manager John Penfold in 1995.
Mr Penfold, 21, was stabbed through the heart with
a kitchen knife in November 1994 at the Woolworth's
branch in Teddington, south-west London. At his trial,
Kay, now 29, admitted manslaughter on the grounds of
diminished responsibility, saying he"could not"
resist his violent impulses and was prone to inflicting
violence on humans and animals.
Sutcliffe was jailed for 13 killings at the Old Bailey
in 1981 where he was ordered to serve a minimum of 30
years.
This is not the first time the Yorkshire Ripper has
been attacked while in Broadmoor.
A year ago last month, he was set upon by another fellow
patient who tried to garrotte him with a length of flex.
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