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The Aftermath

Following Sutcliffe’s sentence Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary, Lawrence Byford, was charged with investigating the conduct of West Yorkshire Police during the Ripper Inquiry. His report was a devastating indictment.It transformed police investigations and resulted in the setting up of the first major inquiry computer programme.Jailed in 1981 Sutcliffe was initially sent to HMP Parkhurst on the Isle of Wight. He was attacked by another inmate. It will not be the last time this happens.Prison psychiatrists diagnose Sutcliffe as insane. He was transferred to Broadmoor secure hospital in 1984.He was visited there by West Yorkshire’s Chief Constable, Keith Hellawell. He asked about many other cases, including that of Tracy Browne.Eleven years after being jailed Sutcliffe confessed to attacking two others, one of whom was Tracy Browne

 

JACK JAILED- On 20 October 2005, ‘Wearside Jack’ finally faced justice. A former security guard, John Humble, was arrested and charged with perverting the course of justice. He had sent two letters and a tape recording that led to the hunt for the Ripper hoaxer, “Wearside Jack”. More sophisticated DNA profiling enabled experts to match his DNA from a motoring offence to saliva taken from one of the envelopes containing the hoax letter sent in 1978.In March 2006, Humble was jailed for eight years at Leeds Crown Court.The tape recording was in fact done in a red brick council semi by the 23-year-old labourer as a prank. When they took his tapes seriously John Humble twice tried to convince detectives that it was a hoax. But the more he pleaded, the more convinced they were that the tapes were genuine.RIPPER RIPPED- In 1997, Sutcliffe was stabbed in both eyes with a pen by another Broadmoor patient, Ian Kay. Emergency surgery saved the sight in the right one. He was left blinded in the left.Despite his lack of popularity amongst fellow inmates, Sutcliffe reportedly receives considerable fan mail from female admirers. Sonia, his wife, however, remarried and changed her surname.IPSWICH MURDERS- The changes in public sympathy for the plight of prostitutes and of police treatment of them were evident over the 2006 serial murders of five women. The fact that they were prostitutes was pertinent, but it didn’t mean the police were under any less pressure to find their man. And within two months, they did.Such advances in public and policing sensitivity are probably little consolation to the many, many victims of Peter Sutcliffe."I don’t have mam to see every time I want to see her...I wish she was here. Always have done.”-Neil Jackson, Son of Emily Jackson (the Ripper’s second murder victim)

In 2008, after thirty three years of living in fear, Anna Rogulski, Sutcliffe’s first surviving victim, finally found peace and died in hospital.His second surviving victim was reduced to a shadow of her former self. Her daughter had a nervous breakdown.His youngest victim, Tracy Browne, without counselling, rebuilt her life and refuses to let Sutcliffe affect her future. It seems her youth helped her.“I was still growing up when the attack happened. I was young, resilient and with a teenage-type determination to put it all behind me...I am now a survivor, not a victim.”The father of one of Sutcliffe’s last murder victims, Jayne MacDonald was not so able to put things behind him. Two years after her death, it is said he died of a broken heart.Sutcliffe set out to ‘clean’ the streets of prostitutes. Instead, he destroyed the lives of students, civil servants, housewives and mothers. And on top of that, he created an impact in many families from which they would never recover.

 

 

The family of his last victim, Jacqueline Hill tried to sue the police over their incompetent investigation of the Ripper attacks and killings.Their court case was unsuccessful.The Courts did, however, reject a 2010 appeal by Sutcliffe against his whole life tariff. They confirmed that Sutcliffe would serve a whole life tariff and never be released from imprisonment.Also that year, the murder of Joan Harrison was conclusively linked to another man. Forensics from her case had helped convince Oldfield of the authenticity of the ‘Wearside Jack’ letters and tapes.In November 2012 it was reported that the 66-year-old Sutcliffe believed he would soon be on day release. He was also said to have defended the paedophile Jimmy Savile and boasted of the number of visitors and pen pals he had.His reading of their letters is more difficult because of being stabbed and blinded in his left eye.It is also claimed that Sutcliffe is now a Jehovah’s Witness.Some bizarre urban myths have sprung up about the serial killer. Leeds University students have been known to tell a story based on the fact that he liked to eat at the Kentucky Fried Chicken in Headingley. They say the Ripper was arrested there when staff recognised him from the photo fit issued by the police. They told Sutcliffe that he was their millionth customer and must stay while they presented him with his prize. Instead, they rang the police who arrested him.Like all such myths, the grain of truth in it helps it to persist.In July 2013, John Humble, the man behind the ‘Wearside Jack’ tapes spoke publicly for the first time. He said it started “as a prank – just a bit of fun.” It was revealed that the hoax had lead to him trying to take his own life three times.It was reported in August 2016 that Sutcliffe would be moved from Broadmoor psychiatric unit after it was decided he longer needed treatment for any mental illness.