24/01/05 - Ripper letter 'part
of plan by killer to win freedom'
Chris Benfield
Yorkshire Post
A letter the Yorkshire Ripper tried to send out to the
world is part of a plan to get himself freed, an expert
on the killer said yesterday. The letter was blocked by
the authorities at Broadmoor, the high-security mental
hospital where Peter Sutcliffe has served most of his
time since being given 20 life sentences in 1981, for
13 murders and seven attempts.
The Sunday People yesterday published what it said was
a reconstruction of the public statement Sutcliffe wanted
to make. From the wording of the story, it seemed that
somebody with access to Sutcliffe had persuaded him to
write a letter for the Press, in response to the furore
over the recent news that he had been on a day trip to
the Lake District, to see where his father's ashes were
scattered.
The statement had to go through Broadmoor management,
who made Sutcliffe cut it down even before the Home Office
was asked to approve it. Ministers refused to let even
the shortened version go out. Officials refused to comment
yesterday.
But the Sunday People said the statement submitted to
the Home Office had read: "The courts convicted me
and now the courts will protect my Human Rights under
Article Eight. "I am no longer an insane or dangerous
person and I am not receiving treatment for any form of
mental illness and I have not committed any criminal offence
for over 25 years."
The newspaper said Sutcliffe had originally written a
much lengthier letter – his first since his conviction
– which apparently included the wording: "I
hope to be getting married on or before May 12, 2005.
I am looking forward to the wedding date.
"Since my conviction, never before have I took such
a step but I do so to end further speculation into my
life. "My hope is that my stay at Broadmoor will
be reviewed and they will look favourably on my hopes
for my future. "And I look forward to the day when
my wife and I are allowed to live as one under the same
roof in matrimonial harmony."
Yesterday, Michael Bilton, author of the best-selling
book Wicked Beyond Belief: The Hunt For The Yorkshire
Ripper, said there was nothing surprising in the statement
from Sutcliffe.
Mr Bilton said in a London newspaper some weeks ago that
Sutcliffe was trying to get himself declared sane enough
to go back to an ordinary prison, because that would raise
the faint possibility that he might one day be released.
Sutcliffe's reference to Article Eight means Article Eight
of the Human Rights Act, which says "Everyone has
a right to respect for his private and family life".
On these grounds, the Ripper apparently hopes to get permission
to marry a widow he has been courting by post. His first
wife, Sonia, divorced him in 1994. In the long run, according
to Mr Bilton, Sutcliffe's plan is to use European legislation
to force the Home Secretary to set a tariff for his sentence
– to say when it might come to an end.
The judge who sentenced Sutcliffe said he should serve
at least 30 years, which would keep him inside until the
beginning of 2011. By then, Sutcliffe would be 69, and
he is already frail. But no Home Secretary is likely to
agree to his release.
He was prepared to go to court over his right to say goodbye
to his father, and it is thought
that David Blunkett, then Home Secretary, eventually agreed
because he was worried about being over-ruled by judges
once again.
Sutcliffe terrorised the north of England from 1975 to
1981. He claimed at his trial that he was driven by messages
from God, telling him to rid the streets of prostitutes.
He argued that he was only guilty of manslaughter while
insane, but was found guilty of murder. However, he kept
claiming to hear voices and was transferred to Broadmoor
in 1984.
Mr Bilton said: "As long as he is held under the
Mental Health Act, the authorities can keep him as long
as they want. If he can get back into prison, he has a
lot more room for manoeuvre." |
