Serial killer Peter Sutcliffe – known as the Yorkshire Ripper – has been moved to prison after three decades at Broadmoor psychiatric hospital.
A health tribunal has found 70-year-old Sutcliffe no longer needs treatment for any mental disorder. In 1981 he was convicted of 13 murders and seven attempted murders and given 20 life sentences.
He was transferred to Broadmoor in 1984 after he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Before he was moved to the high security institution in Berkshire, the killer spent three years at Parkhurst prison on the Isle of Wight. Transferring Sutcliffe to prison could save up to £250,000 a year.
Sutcliffe, a former lorry driver from Bradford, now calls himself Peter Coonan. Plans for his transfer emerged earlier in August and he is thought to have been moved to Frankland prison in Durham on Wednesday.
Commenting on the transfer, a Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “Peter Coonan will remain locked up and will never be released for his evil crimes. “Decisions over whether prisoners are to be sent back to prison from secure hospitals are based on clinical assessments made by independent medical staff. “The High Court ordered in 2010 that Peter Coonan should never be released. This was upheld by the Court of Appeal. “Our thoughts are with Coonan’s victims and their families.”
Between 1975 and 1980 Sutcliffe preyed on women across Greater Manchester and Yorkshire. Most were mutilated and beaten to death.
He was caught in January 1981 when police found him in his car with a woman working as a prostitute. They discovered Sutcliffe had a fake licence plate and weapons including a screwdriver and hammer in the boot.
Sutcliffe’s Victims
Wilma McCann, aged 28, Leeds, October 1975
Emily Jackson, aged 42, Leeds, January 1976
Irene Richardson, aged 28, Leeds, February 1977
Patricia Atkinson, aged 32, Bradford, April 1977
Jayne McDonald, aged 16, Leeds, June 1977
Jean Jordan, aged 21, Manchester, October 1977
Yvonne Pearson, aged 22, Bradford, January 1978
Helen Rytka, aged 18, Huddersfield, January 1978
Vera Millward, aged 41, Manchester, May 1978
Josephine Whittaker, aged 19, Halifax, May 1979
Barbara Leach, aged 20, Bradford, September 1979
Marguerite Walls, aged 47, Leeds, August 1980
Jacqueline Hill, aged 20, Leeds, November 1980