Rot in hell

[Paul S]

Peter Sutcliffe the Yorkshire ripper dead at the age of 74. There really isn't a lot that can be said about this man although I hope he was mentally ill when he committed these crimes becuase I find it difficult to believe anyone sane would be as evil as he was. Listening to radio 5 this morning on the phone in they had a man who used to be a bus driver in Huddersfield when all this was going on and he described how they would stop between bus stops to allow women off closer to their homes. Then he would see them running to get home such was the fear they had.

[Nefertiti2]

Would rather not speak about Sutcliffe- but this account of the policing & reporting is horrifying- though perhaps not surprising when we recall what else was going on at the time

https://twitter.com/underaredflag/status/1327167783491293184?s=21

[MsD]

His victims are still being described as prostitutes, and I can remember the fuss when he killed his first “innocent” victim. And there are a depressing number of trolls bigging him up on social media.

I worked with someone around the time who said (said openly and casually, in the office) that he thought Sutcliffe must be mad, as he killed women without raping them, which he couldn’t fathom. Those were the days.

[Satchmo Distel]

The term 'Yorkshire Ripper' is itself offensive and glorifying but we seem to be stuck with it whenever his name comes up. I suppose it would be falsifying history to pretend the association is not there but I think it's a hateful, misognynistic legacy of 70s culture.

[torres]

Most of the bizzies ended up with commendations after the case. They should have all been in the nick.

[Mr Delicieux]

A work colleague showed me this, and he along with some others mentioned the handshake looking Masonic.

[MsD]

Poor Frank.

[DCI Harry Batt]

Wilma McCann, 28, from Chapeltown, Leeds, who was killed in October 1975.
Emily Jackson, 42, from Morley, Leeds. Killed on 20 January 1976.
Irene Richardson, 28, from Chapeltown, Leeds. Killed on 6 February 1977.
Patricia Atkinson, 32, from Manningham, Bradford. Killed on 24 April 1977.
Jayne MacDonald, 16, from Leeds. Killed on 26 June 1977.
Jean Jordan, 21, from Manchester, who died between 30 September and 11 October 1977.
Yvonne Pearson, 22, from Bradford. Killed between 20 January and 26 March 1978.
Helen Rytka, 18, from Huddersfield. Killed on 31 January 1978.
Vera Millward, 40, from Manchester. Killed on 16 May 1978.
Josephine Whitaker, 19, from Halifax. Killed on 4 April 1979.
Barbara Leach, 20. Killed while walking in Bradford on 1 September 1979.
Marguerite Walls, 47, from Leeds. Killed on 20 August 1980.
Jacqueline Hill, 20. Found killed at Headingley on 16 November 1980.

[torres]

A work colleague showed me this, and he along with some others mentioned the handshake looking Masonic.

It’s actually a bit difficult to pick out the biggest cunt in that photo

[MsD]

Well, it's not Frank Bruno. http://www.anorak.co.uk/339101/sport...my-savile.html

[Nocturnal Submission]

Wilma McCann, 28, from Chapeltown, Leeds, who was killed in October 1975.
Emily Jackson, 42, from Morley, Leeds. Killed on 20 January 1976.
Irene Richardson, 28, from Chapeltown, Leeds. Killed on 6 February 1977.
Patricia Atkinson, 32, from Manningham, Bradford. Killed on 24 April 1977.
Jayne MacDonald, 16, from Leeds. Killed on 26 June 1977.
Jean Jordan, 21, from Manchester, who died between 30 September and 11 October 1977.
Yvonne Pearson, 22, from Bradford. Killed between 20 January and 26 March 1978.
Helen Rytka, 18, from Huddersfield. Killed on 31 January 1978.
Vera Millward, 40, from Manchester. Killed on 16 May 1978.
Josephine Whitaker, 19, from Halifax. Killed on 4 April 1979.
Barbara Leach, 20. Killed while walking in Bradford on 1 September 1979.
Marguerite Walls, 47, from Leeds. Killed on 20 August 1980.
Jacqueline Hill, 20. Found killed at Headingley on 16 November 1980.

Absolutely.

I remember reading that Jayne McDonald's dad died shortly afterwards from a broken heart, a comment that has haunted me ever since.

[elguapo4]

Having seen the BBC documentary about the case last year ,the amount of errors that were committed due to thick headed behaviour at the top table was shocking.

The 14 year old girl who was attacked by him early on, and gave a full description of him and his van, she was ignored because she wasn't a sex worker.

Two detectives traced a ? 5.00 note from one of the victims purses to Sutcliffe's employer's payroll, he was interviewed and the lead was let go cold.

The famous "Sunderland tape " ended up as an obsession with the chief copper,which set back the investigation years, and the case was finally solved by two ordinary beat coppers, who used their intuition.

The investigating police obviously didn't have the technology of today, but even for the time it was slipshod and incompetent.

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

The famous "Sunderland tape " ended up as an obsession with the chief copper,which set back the investigation years, and the case was finally solved by two ordinary beat coppers, who used their intuition.

Think we've covered Wearside Jack on here previously (possibly when that documentary was shown), and that is a whole story in itself including this snippet:

(Wearside Jack) had attempted to take his own life in November 1979 by jumping off the 90ft bridge spanning the River Wear and on other occasions. Instead of dying, he landed on a boat and was rescued by the police, spending three months in hospital as a result of his injuries and undergoing psychiatric treatment.

[DCI Harry Batt]

It wasn't only slipshod and incompetent. It reflected the appalling misogyny found in society and even more in the police force.

[Jah Womble]

Yep, the nicknaming thing was beyond ghastly - desecration of personal memories for the sake of a few trashy headlines.

I also object to this having been the lead story on the news all morning.

(Cannot believe twunts are bigging him up on social media. Well, okay, I can. This world.)

[Giggler]

A definite dark and seamy underbelly to West Yorkshire in the late-70s, from which David Peace scraped the barnacles in the Red Riding trilogy.

I've got the book Wicked Beyond Belief which is about this man and what he did. I've never been able to read it all. The actor who went on to play Les Battersby in Coronation Street discovered one of his victims in Manchester. The description of her body in the book was appalling. I imagine Bruce Jones has never been able to shift some of the things he saw.

[jwdd27]

There was also rank racism in their treatment of Marcella Claxton, who survived an attack and gave a good description of Sutcliffe, but was ignored because she wasn't a sex worker, and because she was black and had a learning disability and so officers regarded her as "little more than an ape".

Michael Bilton's Wicked Beyond Belief is pretty much the definitive text on the case, and is recommended even if you're not a regular true crime reader.

I was too young and far removed to fully remember the atmosphere at the time, although my father worked in Leeds and got stopped a few times, and I later worked with a Sunderland-born journalist, who at the time was bearded and working in Yorkshire, and he understandably got stopped more than a few times.

[Logan Mountstuart]

Wilma mcCann's son sounds like a lovely, sensitive bloke. I can't even begin to imagine what he went through. He's a real credit to his poor mum.

[Bored Of Education]

It only really occurred to me recently how appalling a state of victim-blaming was present around the time of Sutcliffe's murders. Aside from the denigration of the victims who were prostitutes, women told to stay indoors or only go out with men they knew. Men weren't told to stay indoors, even though the attacker was male, women were. I am not entirely sure that we have moved that much more on now.

[MsD]

Yes, as a young woman at the time I used to ask why there was no male curfew. It was common to hear banter about the Ripper, rape and attacks in general.
There were several cases where rapists got off, with their cases either thrown out due to "unreliable" complainants, or with a fine/non-custodial sentenced. In 1982, Judge Richards said that a woman who was hitchhiking late at night and was picked up and raped was ‘asking for it’ and guilty of contributory negligence.
The Ealing Rape in the mid 80s was indeed horrific, but Jill Seward got sympathy mainly for being a virgin, and for being raped in front of her vicar father.
It's taken a long time for rape victims to be treated sympathetically, and I still don't know whether I'd go to the police.

[Sits]

Wilma McCann, 28, from Chapeltown, Leeds, who was killed in October 1975.
Emily Jackson, 42, from Morley, Leeds. Killed on 20 January 1976.
Irene Richardson, 28, from Chapeltown, Leeds. Killed on 6 February 1977.
Patricia Atkinson, 32, from Manningham, Bradford. Killed on 24 April 1977.
Jayne MacDonald, 16, from Leeds. Killed on 26 June 1977.
Jean Jordan, 21, from Manchester, who died between 30 September and 11 October 1977.
Yvonne Pearson, 22, from Bradford. Killed between 20 January and 26 March 1978.
Helen Rytka, 18, from Huddersfield. Killed on 31 January 1978.
Vera Millward, 40, from Manchester. Killed on 16 May 1978.
Josephine Whitaker, 19, from Halifax. Killed on 4 April 1979.
Barbara Leach, 20. Killed while walking in Bradford on 1 September 1979.
Marguerite Walls, 47, from Leeds. Killed on 20 August 1980.
Jacqueline Hill, 20. Found killed at Headingley on 16 November 1980.

That deserves a second quoting. The only names which matter from all of this.

[Lang Spoon]

Yes, as a young woman at the time I used to ask why there was no male curfew. It was common to hear banter about the Ripper, rape and attacks in general.
There were several cases where rapists got off, with their cases either thrown out due to "unreliable" complainants, or with a fine/non-custodial sentenced. In 1982, Judge Richards said that a woman who was hitchhiking late at night and was picked up and raped was ‘asking for it’ and guilty of contributory negligence.
The Ealing Rape in the mid 80s was indeed horrific, but Jill Seward got sympathy mainly for being a virgin, and for being raped in front of her vicar father.
It's taken a long time for rape victims to be treated sympathetically, and I still don't know whether I'd go to the police.

That shit is still going on, especially if the accused are famous. See the disgusting conduct of the whole trial process in the Paddy Jackson case in Northern Ireland a few years back.

[Lang Spoon]

And similar will probably happen in Ireland proper, if the DPP ever decide to charge a certain famous bastard.

[sw2borshch]

Having seen the BBC documentary about the case last year ,the amount of errors that were committed due to thick headed behaviour at the top table was shocking.

The 14 year old girl who was attacked by him early on, and gave a full description of him and his van, she was ignored because she wasn't a sex worker.

Two detectives traced a ? 5.00 note from one of the victims purses to Sutcliffe's employer's payroll, he was interviewed and the lead was let go cold.

The famous "Sunderland tape " ended up as an obsession with the chief copper,which set back the investigation years, and the case was finally solved by two ordinary beat coppers, who used their intuition.

The investigating police obviously didn't have the technology of today, but even for the time it was slipshod and incompetent.

Re the beat coppers, as I understand it, it was South Yorkshire force bobbies stopping him on a traffic thing, rather than the West Yorkshire investigating force.

[Gangster Octopus]

'T'was indeed. Summat to do with false number plates in a part of central Sheffield.