Yorkshire Ripper should be freed?

Kewpie

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bradford/8543353.stm

Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe is seeking a High Court ruling on how much longer he must serve in jail, it can be revealed.

A judge said there was no reason why it should not be reported that 63-year-old Sutcliffe is asking the High Court to grant him a finite minimum sentence.

Restrictions banning identification in the case were imposed in November 2008.

He was given 20 life terms in 1981 for murdering 13 women and attacking seven others in Yorkshire and Lancashire.

The trial judge at the Old Bailey, Mr Justice Boreham, recommended that he serve a minimum of 30 years behind bars, a period that will expire next year.

Anonymity lifted

However, Sutcliffe, whose name was not on a Home Office list of 35 murderers serving "whole life" sentences published in 2006, was given no formal minimum sentence, or "tariff".

Now known as Peter Coonan, he is currently being held in Broadmoor top security psychiatric hospital after being transferred from prison in 1984 after being diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.


Mr Justice Mitting is holding a directions hearing in London to decide what form the tariff-setting hearing should take, and what evidence should be admitted.

At the outset the judge took away Sutcliffe's anonymity, saying: "It is now common ground this is part of the criminal process and must, therefore, proceed in the defendant's own name.

"The press are at liberty to report the fact that these proceedings concern Peter Sutcliffe/Peter Coonan."

'Exceptional' progress

Paul Bowen, appearing for Sutcliffe, indicated there had been an application to continue keeping his identity secret, but said: "We are no longer pursuing that application."

The judge who reviews Sutcliffe's tariff later this year will take into account the gravity of his crimes, whether or not he has made "exceptional" progress in custody, the state of his mental health and any representations from Sutcliffe, his victims or their families.

The judge will have power to impose a definite number of years that Sutcliffe must serve before he can seek his freedom, but could also rule that he must spend his whole life behind bars.

Richard McCann, the son of Sutcliffe's victim, Wilma McCann, said: "I do not believe that he will ever be released, or that he should be either. It will be a brave home secretary who allows him to be released."

Sutcliffe's life sentence means that, whatever the outcome of the tariff decision, he will only be freed when, and if, the authorities consider that he no longer poses a serious danger to the public.
 
Not even a question. Never.
 
If by "freed" you mean torn apart by jackals, then yes certainly. He killed 13 women. He shouldn't be taking up space on this planet - it's a waste of oxygen.
 
IF he was mentally ill at the time but is no longer ill
then,of course, he should be released.
 
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After one of the Manchester murders, my uncle was paid a visit by the local dibble:eek:
Two cars were seen near to the scene of the crime and anyone with those make / colour of cars in the area were questioned.

In anwer to the threads question, it simply is a no brainer.

Jukebox Jury
 
I'm not commenting on whether Sutcliffe should be released, but it highlights a quirk of the British judicial system and the 'independence' of the system from the other branches of British governance. That it is the Home Secretary, an elected MP (and critics would say is vulernable to whimsy of the public), ultimately decides on a judicial matter, rather than a judge. Others might say that this is a good thing, as judges are not not elected and therefore unaccountable to the public.
 
the popular view is that notorious killers like peter sutcliffe and ian brady shouldn't ever be released, but it'd be interesting to hear the criteria people use to arrive at that conclusion.
 
Aye, let him out. Just stick this sign on his front door and he'll be alright:
can-i-still-provoke

http://www.engrish.com/2008/07/can-i-still-provoke/
 
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the popular view is that notorious killers like peter sutcliffe and ian brady shouldn't ever be released, but it'd be interesting to hear the criteria people use to arrive at that conclusion.

It's easy--serial killers, such as Sutcliffe and Brady, are EXTREMELY likely to kill again if they are released from prison. Experts in serial murder, such as John Douglas (the former head of the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit, which works at profiling violent offenders), agree that there is little to no chance of rehabilitating serial killers, and that they should be kept in prison for life.
 
It's easy--serial killers, such as Sutcliffe and Brady, are EXTREMELY likely to kill again if they are released from prison. Experts in serial murder, such as John Douglas (the former head of the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit, which works at profiling violent offenders), agree that there is little to no chance of rehabilitating serial killers, and that they should be kept in prison for life.

personally, i too, would prefer him to remain in prison, but i have difficulty with your way of looking at it. it sounds like crude, deductive reasoning: serial killers are irredeemably "evil" and must forever be detained for the safety of others; peter sutcliffe is a serial killer; therefore, peter sutcliffe is "evil" and must forever be detained for the safety of others.

it tells us little about peter sutcliffe. quite probably, there are many perfectly mundane things to be known about him, things that we don't know because they're not sensational or newsworthy. besides being a serial killer, i'm sure he had/has many characteristics that were/are wholly normal and that may, through effort and diligence during his imprisonment, have become accentuated. he may have managed to tone down the whole wanting to kill women thing in the intervening thirty years since his conviction.

the fbi man you mentioned sounds impressive and he may well be onto something in his characterisation of the category, "serial killer", but i'd be hesitant about making the judgement that this person ought to be further deprived of his liberty, without actually acquainting myself with more information about how he has lived during his time in prison. prior to his potential release, sutcliffe will be evaluated in meticulous detail. ideally, whether he poses a risk to others will be thoroughly (and accurately) assessed. ideally, a balanced, disinterested and emotionally detached judgement will be made by people who are qualified to do so. isn't that how it should be?

instinctively, i want to accept your argument - if only to allow me to say that i have a legitimate reason for believing that he shouldn't get out. certainly, if the yorkshire ripper were released, i wouldn't want him living next door to me or anyone i care about. like most people, i think he's a twenty-minute egg. i feel that he should remain in jail. on balance, though, i accept that one-eyed, misogynistic serial killers have rights, too.
 
I believe that it is because certain crimes negate the potential value of those that commit them and reduce them to a state in which allowing them to live is the bare minimum, and also all that can be expected.

You might look at it as an equation. If the value of life could be given a numerical value, his is in the negative range, and it is very unlikely that he can potentially contribute to "society" enough to ever bring him to a balance.

I'm just trying to come up with some rational way to objectively deal with this emotional issue. I don't have a set of formulas we can apply, but what would be the benefit to society to take the chance of having him free? Can a person at some point no longer have rights?
 
Who needs to know anything more about Peter Sutcliffe apart from what he has already done? People seem to forget that there is such reality as good or evil. When someone sways toward the latter and their actions ultimately and outwardly display a compulsion for the same, then it is time for warning bells to say that the person is outside the realms of reasonable thought processes and consider that person to be also outside the consideration of the rest of society, and also for their own welfare.
 
if not for the peace of mind of those who lost daughters, surely for his own safety he'd be better off staying locked up.
 
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