Will taxpayers foot funeral bill as family battle over remains?

TAXPAYERS could end up having to foot the bill for the Yorkshire Ripper’s funeral.

Following his death on Friday, up to £3,000 of Peter Sutcliffe’s basic funeral expenses may now have to be covered by public funds.

Under a Prison Service directive, prisons ‘must offer’ to pay a contribution towards ‘reasonable’ funeral expenses for inmates who die in custody. This includes the cost of a coffin, burial or cremation, hearse, and funeral fees, though the money cannot be used to pay for a headstone, flowers, wake or an obituary notice.

The Ministry of Justice directive states the only exception where a contribution does not need to be offered is when the family has a pre-paid funeral plan, or if they are entitled to claim a grant from a different Government department. It is understood that discussions are ongoing with his family concerning the arrangements.

Prison officials had previously been told by Sutcliffe that an unnamed friend would cover the costs of his funeral.

His ex-wife Sonia remains his next of kin while his brother Michael kept in close contact with him, so it is unclear who will gain control of his body and decide his final resting place. The body is currently in a hospital mortuary.

Sutcliffe expressed a wish to have his ashes scattered next to Sonia’s in Paris, where they honeymooned in 1974. But Michael has said the funeral arrangements had ‘nowt’ to do with Sonia as the pair were no longer married. It is not known if he left a will. Andrew Bridgen, Tory MP for North-West Leicestershire, said: ‘If the state has to pay for his funeral, then it must try to recuperate that cost from Sutcliffe’s estate plus any administrative expenses. The funeral costs will hurt, but they are nothing compared to how much it has cost the state incarcerating him for 40 years.’

The news also comes as officers involved in the original investigation criticised the comments of their superiors who disparaged some of the victims because they were prostitutes. Bob Bridgestock was one of the first on the scene of

‘He wanted his ashes scattered next to Sonia’

Josephine Whitaker’s murder in April 1979 when he was a young West Yorkshire Police vice squad officer. The 19-year-old building society clerk, Sutcliffe’s tenth victim, had been beaten with a hammer and stabbed with a knife.

Mr Bridgestock said: ‘Josephine’s murder changed the whole dynamic of the case because she was seen as a “regular girl”.

‘It was wrong that the other women were not treated the same but that’s the way it was – I disagreed with it then as did others.

‘It was an aggressive, all-boys’ club and the senior officers ruled with an iron fist, you daren’t go up against them.’