LOT IN HELL
Confidential files exposing prejudices of detectives towards Yorkshire Ripper victims for sale on eBay
GHOULS used eBay to sell police files giving grisly details of the Yorkshire Ripper’s murder spree.
Documents listing personal data about Peter Sutcliffe’s victims – and the way they were brutally attacked – were flogged for £390 just days ago.
The insensitive sale came just five weeks after Sutcliffe died and dredged up more harrowing and painful memories for victims’ families and survivors.
Papers in the eBay auction lot were titled “Original Yorkshire Ripper Murder and Assaults Case File Book for Peter Sutcliffe”. It carried the West Yorkshire Police logo. Other pages showed apparent clues – with pictures of tyre treads and a car.
They also appeared to reveal the mindset of some detectives at the time. Sutcliffe’s 13 murder victims included a number of sex workers and one passage in the files read: “Most of the victims are prostitutes or women of loose moral character... it appears the motive is a pathological hatred of women and prostitutes.”
There are some with a morbid curiosity... they need to get a life TRACY BROWNE TEEN VICTIM OF THE RIPPER
MORBID
One victim was described as a “heavy drinker” who “cohabited with a number of men”.
Another passage even suggests one woman targeted “was apparently unhappy with her sexual relationship”.
Survivor Tracy Browne, 59 – just 14 when Sutcliffe rained five blows on her head with a hammer in August 1975 – said of the dossier sale: “People need to get a life, but there will be those with morbid curiosity.
“As far as I’m concerned, once he died that should have been it. I don’t want to go round hating people and Peter Sutcliffe is not worth it.
“I’ve read before how the police regarded some of the victims, the way they spoke about them. When he died the police apologised for the way they spoke about the victims, that was the right thing to do.”
Neil Jackson’s mum Emily – who helped run the family roofing business – was stabbed 52 times by Sutcliffe in Leeds in 1976. He said: “We all know how they regarded the victims at the time and they have said ‘sorry’ – even if it was years too late.
“All his victims deserve to be remembered as mums, daughters, sisters, with families that loved them. I don’t think things like this should be being sold, people cashing in on him, but there will always be interest from the ghouls out there.”
Sutcliffe’s murder spree across northern Britain ran from 1975 to 1980. He was found guilty of 13 murders and seven attempted murders.
Sutcliffe was given a whole-life sentence and piled on the weight during 30 years in jail. He died last month
aged 74 after contracting coronavirus following a heart attack.
Former intelligence officer Chris Clarke examined cold cases with striking similarities and believes Sutcliffe may have killed up to 30 more victims.
West Yorkshire Police said it was investigating the dossier sale. A spokesman said: “The fact that this confidential police case file was in the public domain being offered for sale to the highest bidder is deeply inappropriate. As a victimfocused organisation we are acutely mindful of the potential impact this could have on the families of victims murdered by Sutcliffe, and surviving victims.”
The force also reiterated the “heartfelt apology” issued by Chief Constable John Robins after Sutcliffe died. He said at the time: “I apologise for the distress and anxiety caused by the language, tone and terminology used by senior officers at the time in relation to Peter Sutcliffe’s victims.
“Thankfully those attitudes are consigned to history and our approach today is wholly victim focused, putting them at the centre of everything we do.”