Sutcliffe was a loner as
a child, preferring to be at home with his mother than
out with friends, in fact he had few friends, bullied at
school, he became very introverted.
Sutcliffe left school at
15 and did various unskilled jobs, gravedigger, mortuary
attendant, factory worker, in 1966 he met Sonia Szurma,
they married in 1974.
Sutcliffe had always had
a peculiar interest in prostitutes, getting married did
nothing to temper this.
June 1975, he took
his HGV licence. Becoming a lorry driver gave him nights
away from home, his interest in prostitutes heightened.
Between 1975 and 1984
Sutcliffe was known as the "Yorkshire Ripper" as he
terrorized prostitutes around Northern England with his
hammer and other instruments of torture.
5th July 1975, His
first known attack was attempted murder of Anna Rogulskyj
in Keighley. The last attack being the murder of
Jacqueline Hill in Leeds on 15th November 1980.
See full list of attacks / victims
here >>
Sutcliffe apparently spoke with God frequently. The good
Lord ordered him to go out and hunt prostitutes and, as
a true Christian, he did as he was told. Luckily, he
also enjoyed the job and would orgasm as he hammered and
stabbed his victims to death.
Police were frustrated
with numerous false confessions they received during
their search for him.
2nd January 1981,
Sutcliffe was finally caught sitting in a car with a
prostitute. While in custody he confessed to everything.
The ripper is also suspected of having killed and maimed
several other women in France and Sweden during his
travels abroad.
Tuesday 14th April
1981, Trial starts at Leeds Crown court. The judge
in agreement with prosecution and defence agreed to
transfer trial to the old Bailey in London, fearing h
would not receive a fair trail in Yorkshire.
Wednesday 29th April
1981, Trial starts at the Old Bailey, with
preliminaries.
When asked for his plea
on each of the thirteen murder charges, Sutcliffe
pleaded: "Not guilty to murder but guilty to
manslaughter on the grounds of diminished
responsibility." He also pleaded guilty to each of the
seven charges of attempt murder.
Tuesday 5th May 1981,
Trial proper starts.
As Sutcliffe had already
admitted guilt, the jury were instructed by the judge to
consider his sanity, and to find him sane or
insane.
Friday 22nd May 1981, After 6
hours deliberation, the jury found Sutcliffe sane, and
therefore guilty of 13 murders.
After the verdict, psychiatrist Dr
Terence Kay who had given evidence during the three week
trail, returned to the stand and stated that the doctors
considered that Sutcliffe should be locked up for the
rest of his life.
The judge sentenced him to life with a
recommendation he serve a minimum 30 years.
Sutcliffe is on the Home Office list of
prisoners serving a 'Whole Life Tariff', see full list
here >>
March 1996,
Sutcliffe was assaulted by Paul Wilson. Then, a prisoner
at the high-security Broadmoor hospital in Berkshire, a
robber with a nasty streak. He almost garrotted
Sutcliffe with the flex from a pair of stereo headphones
because he "resented being locked up with sex
offenders". The attacker was pulled off by two other
murderers,
Kenneth Erskine, the "Stockwell Strangler,"
and Jamie
Devitt.
10th March 1997
Sutcliffe was stabbed in both eyes by a fellow inmate
during a fight at the Broadmoor Hospital. It is believed
that Sutcliffe was in his room in Henley Ward when he
was attacked. The attacker,
Ian Kay --
also known as the "Woolworths Killer" -- stabbed The
Ripper with a fibre-tipped pen, the type used in drawing
classes at the hospital. Sutcliffe was blinded in his
left eye as a consequence.
28th January 1998,
Kay admitted to stabbing Sutcliffe, adding attempted
murder to his long list of convictions.
20th October 2005, John Humble,
aged 49, of Sunderland, appeared at Leeds Magistrates'
Court and was charged with perverting the course of
justice.
The charge against him was read by a
clerk at the court, and she stated: "You sent a series
of communications, namely three letters and an audio
tape, to West Yorkshire police and the press claiming to
be the perpetrator of a series of murders that at that
time were the subject of a police investigation."
9th January 2006, John Humble
appeared at Leeds Crown Court before Judge Norman Jones
QC. Humble's plea was not guilty to the four charges of
perverting the course of justice in relation to the
Wearside Jack letters and tape.
23rd February 2006, Leeds Crown
Court before Judge James Stewart QC, John Humble's
defence counsel, David Taylor, told the court that John
Humble admitted to being the author of the Wearside Jack
hoax letters and tape, but denies that his intent was to
pervert the course of justice.
21st March 2006, John Humble
appeared before Judge Norman Jones QC, for sentencing on
the four charges of perverting the course of justice in
relation to the Wearside Jack hoax.
Judge Jones sentenced John Humble to six
years for each of three letters he sent, and eight years
for the infamous hoax tape, all sentences are to run
concurrently.
22 December
2007 Sutcliffe was attacked again, a fellow inmate
named
Patrick Sureda
lunged at him with a metal
cutlery knife while shouting "You fucking raping,
murdering bastard, I'll blind your fucking other one."
Sutcliffe flung himself backwards and the blade missed
his right eye by half a inch, instead stabbing him in
the cheek.
May 2008.
Sutcliffe, is likely to be told
that he will never be freed when he is given the minimum
term he must serve for the murder of 13 women.
He has instructed lawyers
to apply to the High Court for a tariff – the minimum
term – to be set for the first time since he was jailed
in 1981.
17th February 2009,
it was reported that Sutcliffe was 'fit to leave
Broadmoor'. If the Ministry of Justice agrees with the
doctors' verdict, he will be sent to a medium-secure
unit where he could be allowed out on short release for
rehabilitation.
For a list of
victims -
Click
Here >>
