The
Yorkshire Ripper, who murdered 13 women and attacked seven others between 1975 and 1980 across West Yorkshire, plus two in Greater Manchester. He was caught by chance while sitting in his car with a prostitute and potential victim in Sheffield, and made a full confession to each attack to the police, even though they'd only arrested him for having false number plates. At trial he pleaded guilty to manslaughter but was convicted of 13 murders and was sentenced to a minimum of 30 years. Following the November 2002 law lords' ruling, Sutcliffe could potentially have been released from custody in 2011 if a parole board had decided he no longer presented a risk to the public. However, in 2010, it was announced Sutcliffe was to be given a whole life tariff by the government and is now in a high security mental hospital after being declared criminally insane. Sutcliffe remains a hate figure within the Press, with much criticism of the Home Office in 2005 when it emerged he had been allowed to visit the site where his late father's ashes had been scattered.
