Sutcliffe’s rage at ‘negative’ TV show

SERIAL killer Peter Sutcliffe spent his last weeks railing against a new TV drama about his murders, complaining that it will only show him in a ‘negative’ light.

The Yorkshire Ripper flew into a rage after learning of the planned ITV six-part series, sources said. The series, based on a book about the police investigation into Sutcliffe, was announced last month.

Prison sources described how the shambling killer even made a final call to a close confidante from high-security prison HMP Frankland, Co Durham, in which he fumed over the programme. During the call, which took place shortly before he fell ill, Sutcliffe blasted the series for ‘going over old ground’.

In a separate development, Michael Bilton, author of Wicked Beyond Belief which inspired the drama and for which he is a consultant, told how investigations by police officers and himself suggest the killer’s first victims may have been two men.

It is thought Sutcliffe may have murdered Fred Craven, who ran a betting shop near Sutcliffe’s family home in Bingley, West Yorkshire, though he denied attacking men. Mr Craven was bludgeoned to death with a hammer in April 1966.

Mr Bilton said Sutcliffe knew Mr Craven and may have asked his daughter out to no avail. ‘Talking to younger detectives, they – once Sutcliffe was caught – realised he lived down the road from where this guy [Craven] lived,’ he said.

‘Looking at his injuries, Sutcliffe could have been a candidate for murdering this man.’

Eleven months later, taxi driver John Tomey, then 28, survived a serious assault with a hammer. He gave a description of the attacker that matched Sutcliffe.