05/05/04 - Ripper : Move me near my dying dad
By Tom Parry
The Mirror
YORKSHIRE Ripper Peter Sutcliffe has asked to be moved to a high-security prison so he can be nearer to his dying father.
Sutcliffe, 57, is willing to give up the privileges of Broadmoor hospital to continue his sentence in the area where he murdered 13 women.
If his request is granted, it could mean Sutcliffe being sent to Wakefield Prison - where child killer Ian Huntley is currently held.
A source informed the Mirror that an internal memo at Broadmoor in Crowthorne, Berks, said: "Peter had expressed the wish to be nearer his father at whatever cost, including the possibility of a move out of hospital care to a prison environment.
"The team has agreed to await head office response to a compassionate request and the outcome of the Mental Health Review Tribunal before deciding on what course of action to take."
Managers at Broadmoor have already asked the Home Office whether Sutcliffe can be allowed to visit his dad John at a secret location.
John, 81, of Bingley, West Yorks, has bladder cancer, heart disease and emphysema. He has not seen his son since 1993.
Any visit to Yorkshire would be Sutcliffe's first since his arrest in 1981. But Broadmoor security managers raised "grave concerns as to the feasibility of such a trip", according to the memo.
A permanent move to the region could spark outrage among residents, many of who still remember his reign of terror.
Sutcliffe was given 20 life sentences at the Old Bailey for murder and attempted murder.
Most of his victims were prostitutes, killed in Leeds, Bradford and Manchester between 1975 and 1980. The judge recommended a minimum sentence of 30 years.
Sutcliffe is due to be assessed by independent doctors for the Mental Health Review Tribunal within weeks.
A Broadmoor source said: "It's just incredible that he would want to give up the cushy life at Broadmoor for a tough prison regime.
"If he were to go back to Yorkshire, he would have a really tough time. No one here thought he could be serious about leaving the hospital for jail."
Sutcliffe was moved to Broadmoor from Parkhurst prison on the Isle of Wight in 1984 after an inmate attacked him with a coffee jar.
In 1997, he was attacked by a fellow Broadmoor patient Ian Kay, who stabbed him in both eyes with a pen.
Sutcliffe lost the sight in his left eye as a result of the attack.
Though notoriously known by his name of Sutcliffe, the serial killer has been calling himself Peter Coonan since 2001.
He converted to Coonan - his mother's maiden name - by deed poll.
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