Scottish Daily Mail

You’ll die in Broadmoor, Ripper told as he loses bid to move nearer home

- By Chris Greenwood Crime Correspond­ent

YORKSHIRE Ripper Peter Sutcliffe will die inside high-security Broadmoor hospital after his plea to be moved to a lower security unit was rejected.

The serial killer, 68, wanted to be transferre­d to another location in West Yorkshire to be closer to his family, which would have placed him just a few miles from where he murdered his victims.

He blames ‘biased’ doctors for him failing a medical assessment and said it was ‘impossible’ to properly assess his mental health.

Sutcliffe has been locked inside Broadmoor for more than three decades after he was given 20 life sentences in 1981. He killed 13 women and tried to murder seven more in a five-year spree that made him the country’s most notorious killer.

Sutcliffe wanted to move to a 65bed unit attached to Fieldhead Hospital in Wakefield but his fate was sealed when a senior doctor ruled there was ‘no change’ in him and he

‘They are biased against me’

should stay at Broadmoor, which is in Berkshire. An angry Sutcliffe told a friend: ‘ This is really unfair. They are biased against me because of who I am. The doctor only came to see me for half an hour, so how can he come up with that decision when he doesn’t know me?’

The West London Mental Health NHS Trust, which is responsibl­e for running the hospital, declined to comment due to patient confidenti­ality.

It costs tax payers more than £ 300,000 to detain Sutcliffe i n Broadmoor, at l east five times more than the cost of a prison cell.

In 2010, an appeal over his sentence that could have led to him applying for parole was rejected, with a High Court judge saying he should never be released.

Sutcliffe suffers from diabetes and his health has deteriorat­ed. He had a hernia operation last year and has since been suffering from a debilitati­ng cough. He has been taking medication which has made him put on weight and has increased his blood pressure. Two weeks ago he suffered an attack of angina.

Sutcliffe wanted to move around 170 miles north to Yorkshire so his family would be able to visit more often. But it would have also placed him closer to the families of his victims.

One source told The Sun: ‘He thinks the powers that be want him to be there until the end.

‘The report says he should not be transferre­d as nothing has changed and he has not shown any real remorse for his killings.

‘This is a real setback for him, especially on top of all his health problems. Peter is now having trouble speaking, he is bloated and looks constantly tired.’

Despite his health problems, Sutcliffe is preparing for a comfortabl­e Christmas inside Broadmoor and has already received more than 60 greeting cards.

He has also sent more than 100 cards despite being a Jehovah’s Witness who does not celebrate Christmas.

He and other patients, including Robert Napper, who murdered Rachel Nickell on Wimbledon Common in 1992, will sit down to a turkey meal with all the trimmings on December 25.

Sutcliffe used weapons including a hammer, screwdrive­r and knives to mutilate women across the north of England. He believed he was on a ‘mission from God’ to kill sex workers. He rarely discusses his crimes and now tells friends and family it was the Devil rather than God telling him to commit the killings.

Broadmoor was designed by a military engineer and was the first custom-built asylum to house criminals when it was developed in 1863. It is designated as a psychiatri­c hospital rather than a jail.

The hospital opened up its doors to cameras for the first time in its 150-year history for an ITV documentar­y screened last month. Sutcliffe refused to take part, and complained about it during the recording.

 ??  ?? Peter Sutcliffe: Doctor ruled there was ‘no change’ in him
Peter Sutcliffe: Doctor ruled there was ‘no change’ in him
 ??  ?? Life sentence: Sutcliffe will remain in high-security Broadmoor
Life sentence: Sutcliffe will remain in high-security Broadmoor

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