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Brown: The Ripper will never be released
Paul Waugh and Martin Bentham18 Feb 2009
YORKSHIRE Ripper Peter Sutcliffe will never be freed, Gordon Brown said today.
The Prime Minister said there had been no independent assessment to justify the release of the serial killer.
When pushed on the prospect, Mr Brown said: "I don't believe he will ever be released."
It was claimed earlier today that doctors at Broadmoor high-security mental hospital had deemed Sutcliffe, 62, to be "cured" and no longer a dangerous offender.
Mr Brown was keen to scotch suggestions that Sutcliffe - who murdered 13 women in the Seventies and Eighties - may eventually be freed. He said mental health laws meant the killer could be detained permanently. "Any prisoner held under the Mental Health Act will only be downgraded, as is suggested might happen, if the Mental Health Tribunal, which is independent, is satisfied that it's safe to do so," he said.
"We're not aware of any tribunal being asked for or arranged in relation to this case. Obviously the tribunal would consider these issues but in my view it is very unlikely that anything is going to happen that is different from the sentence that has been imposed upon him."
A former police officer who worked on Yorkshire Ripper cases said he was "staggered" at the suggestion Sutcliffe may one day be allowed out.
Meanwhile Ronnie biggs could be freed from prison before his 80th birthday. Biggs, who took part in the Great Train Robbery in 1963 and has been in jail since 2001 when he returned from Brazil, will appear before a parole board panel in July.
It is expected to release him because his age and ill-health render him unlikely to re-offend.
The former fugitive could be releasedfrom Norwich prison in time for his birthday on 8 August, although relatives fear he is in such poor health that he might not survive that long.
Biggs's release is likely because he has already served the minimum one-third of his 30-year sentence.
Reader views (7)
GB coming out with that is surely the kiss of death to Sutcliffe's continued imprisonment. The people who decide will read of that and assume he meant exactly the opposite.
- Rogan, Irving, 19/02/2009 05:44
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Now its been declared he is mentally fit can we have this scumbag transferred to a proper prison instead of the cosy hotel he has spent his time in up to now ?
I very much doubt it as our judicial system has been hijacked by liberal do gooders
- Duncan Walker, Lucky to live in Thailand, 19/02/2009 02:02
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Tom is 100% correct, when will pollies learn that it is judges not them who enforce laws.
- Charles, perth, Australia, 19/02/2009 00:00
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Gordon! why dont you get on with saving the world or the british economy or what ever it is you want to save instead of commenting on trivia.
- Chidi, london, uk, 18/02/2009 21:55
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There should not be any question about releasing this evil serial killer. In light of the depth and breadth of his crimes, he must be kept in jail until he dies. As for Gordon Brown, well, we know we cannot believe him so anything he says is just words written on water. And as for psychiatrists & psychologists: how many times have they been totally & tragically wrong about releasing killers?
- Alf Bennett, London, England., 18/02/2009 21:37
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Unless it is to Brown's political advantage.
- Robert E;-Cid., Hull, East Yorks.,, 18/02/2009 17:08
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Surely it is down to the legal system to decide whether Sutcliffe should ever be released not a politician?
- Tom, Watford (UK), 18/02/2009 16:37
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