Police review 20 unsolved crimes that may see Yorkshire Ripper face further charges

PETER SUTCLIFFE, the Yorkshire Ripper, could be charged with more offences after detectives confirmed they were investigating a string of unsolved attacks on women dating back more than 30 years.

West Yorkshire Police are undertaking a cold case review of up to 20 crimes across the north of England and further afield in the late Seventies and early Eighties.

They have even taken DNA samples from women who they believe could have been attacked by Sutcliffe before he was arrested in 1981.

Sutcliffe, 69, was jailed for life after being found guilty of 13 murders and seven attempted murders.

But a government report written in the wake of Sutcliffe’s conviction concluded that he was “probably responsi- ble” for more attacks. It is that report which is now understood to be forming the basis for the cold case review.

At least two women who were attacked by a stranger more than 30 years ago have been contacted by detectives, according to the Sunday Mirror.

The relative of one of the women said: “They asked her to give a new statement and took a [DNA] sample. They said science had evolved and that they were looking at 13 other cases… the police were telling her he could end up back in court.”

Sutcliffe, who has been held in Broadmoor since 1981, used hammers, screwdrivers and a knife to attack and mutilate women he stalked at night.

Since his conviction a string of unsolved attacks, which bore similarities to his method, have been linked to him. However, police were unable to find enough evidence to charge Sutcliffe with additional offences. Among the cases which could now be re-examined include that of Maureen Lea, a Leeds University student, who was attacked by a man with a hammer and screwdriver in October 1980.

In 1974, Gloria Wood, 28, was attacked on a school playing field in Bradford by a man with a claw hammer and the following year a 14-year-old schoolgirl was subjected to a similar assault in Silsden, West Yorks.

In a statement confirming the cold case review, West Yorkshire police said: “As part of this review officers have begun to visit a small number of people named as victims of then unsolved assaults and other offences in cases submitted to West Yorkshire Police as part of reviews carried out in the early 1980s.”

At his trial, Sutcliffe pleaded not guilty on the grounds of diminished responsibility, claiming God had told him to attack his victims.