Yorkshire Ripper must stay behind bars, British court rules

Jul 16, 2010, 12:56 GMT

London - One of Britain's most infamous serial killers, Peter Sutcliffe, will never be released from prison, the High Court in London ruled Friday.

Sutcliffe, 63, was convicted in 1981 of the murders of 13 women and became notorious as the 'Yorkshire Ripper' for the string of brutal killings.

He was found guilty of the attempted murder of a further seven women across Yorkshire and the north of England.

Many of his victims were prostitutes. Sutcliffe, who now bears the name Peter Coonan, said he believed he was on a 'mission from God' to kill sex workers, mutilated their bodies using a hammer, a sharpened screw driver and a knife.

He spent many years in a top security psychiatric hospital.

He received 20 life terms and had applied to the High Court for a setting of a minimum term which would have brought him the chance of parole.

The judge at his trial recommend that he should serve a minimum of 30 years.

But the High Court judges ruled Friday that 'early release provisions' would not apply in the case, given the 'brutality and gravity' of the offences.

Earlier this year, a man dubbed the new Yorkshire Ripper was arrested in the Bradford area - where Sutcliffe had killed many of his victims - and charged with the murder of three prostitutes.

Remains of two of the women were found in suitcases retrieved from a local river.

Stephen Griffiths, 40, had been a student of criminology at Bradford University, researching the history of mass murderers, including that of Sutcliffe. He is due to go on trial in November.