Yorkshire Ripper to be freed?

[Mike Covell]

I have watched with interest the debate this sensational news story has created and am amazed at the response. A large amount of people, from the world over, both male and female have argued that he should never be released, regardless of wether he is reformed or not.

He killed and injured, made families suffer, and the feelings are still strong in the local communites today.

That said, one hopes that if they do release him from Broadmoor, he is still imprisoned, albeit in another prison.

[Aelric]

I don't think he should be released. Life should mean life in his case (and for other cases of similar severity), especially because he recieved multiple life sentences.

Is he rehabilitated? Only the psychiatrists and parole officers can decide that. However, he caused too much harm, to the 13 women he killed (Wilma McCann, Emily Jackson, Irene Rochardson, Patricia Atkinson, Jayne MacDonald, Jean Jordan, Yvonne Pearson, Helen Rytka, Vera Millward, Josephine Whittaker, Barbara Leach, Marguerite Walls and Jacqueline Hill) and to their families, to deserve to be free to make use of it.

I do doubt he'll ever be released, mainly because I agree with ianincleveland that there'll be vigilante mobs out as soon as the press get wind of it. If the papers have no problems getting photos of him while he's in jail (and they haven't in the past) then getting them when he's on the streets will be no bother, nor will his address be out of reach. He'll be kept in for his own safety, as much as that of others.

[truebluedub]

He'll be deemed sane, arrangements will be made to send him to a prison with lesser security. David Cameron will give a quick soundbite saying this is wrong. Sutcliffe will then remain where he is and the Tories will go up several points in the opinion polls.

Chris Lowe

[Celesta]

He's no threat? What a crock. Is this just about rehabilitation? What about punishment for his crimes? He ought to be doing life sentences, with no parole, for every person he murdered. Imagine the screaming and protests that are going to be done when he gets out and kills his first victim. Makes more sense to do the protests now and keep his but* in prison.

I hope you folks are right when you say they won't let him out. It seems unreasonable that they would. Manson has been up for parole a few times and he has yet to be released. Different system, of course, but maybe it will be the same with this ghoul.

[Robert]

The PC brigade will probably forgive him for the murders and then arrest him for being overweight.

[Christine]

It reminds me of the treatment that Ronald Reagan's attempted assassin John Hinckley ended up getting. But I wonder- would this be the first convicted serial killer ever to gain eventual release? It seems outrageous. It might seem "politically incorrect" of me, but instead of showing leniency to someone because they are mentally ill, if someone has committed crimes of this magnitude I really think that keeping them locked up BECAUSE they are insane would be better reccomended.

Even if they make him wear an ankle bracelet, they can tell where he is but they can't tell what he's doing there.

I fear something very bad may happen here.

I don't really understand this. Hinckley is locked up, in a maximum security psychiatric facility. He has less chance of getting out than Sutcliffe.

In the US, if someone is cured with drugs as they say Sutcliffe is, then he can be tried again for the murders and sent to a proper prison.

[Mike Covell]

Maybe they should plan something like this,

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7896828.stm

This killer escaped, only to be killed by a train! Anyone believe in Karma?

[Limehouse]

I personally do not believe Sutcliffe has been rehabilitated for several reasons. Firstly, I don't think he was insane to start with. He was a sadistic killer who 'used' his wife's experience of mental illness to fool the psychiatrists - probably the same fools who say he is ready to be released into a more relaxed, lower security institution.

Secondly, I do not trust the judgement of psychiatrists to decide whether a man like Sutcliffe is rehabilitated and no longer poses a danger. They have been wrong before.

finally, as several other people have stated, Sutcliffe does not deserve to be released under any circumstances. He destroyed many lives, deprived people of their loved ones and damaged people beyond repair. he should pay with his own freedom. If he is released, he will be a burden on the tax payer as a free man. If we have to pay for him for the rest of his life, we should pay to keep him locked up and he should be grateful for that and live with it.

[Observer]

For what it's worth, I agree with Monty, no government wants to be forever associated with the release of the monsterous Sutcliffe. Call me cynical
but I don't believe they'd risk the mountain of votes they'd lose

all the best

Observer

[Ravenstone]

There was mention made a few years ago about Raymond Morris being released. I didn't hear anything else about it, but would be interested to know if he was. He'd be in his late 70s by now, I reckon.

I, too, believe Sutcliffe initially faked his symptoms. Enough years in Broadmoor, though, and he's probably far more mentally ill now than he was back then.

[kensei]

I don't really understand this. Hinckley is locked up, in a maximum security psychiatric facility. He has less chance of getting out than Sutcliffe.

In the US, if someone is cured with drugs as they say Sutcliffe is, then he can be tried again for the murders and sent to a proper prison.

I was referencing how Hinckley has been given passes at times to leave the facility and visit with his family.

[Pinkerton]

It reminds me of the treatment that Ronald Reagan's attempted assassin John Hinckley ended up getting. But I wonder- would this be the first convicted serial killer ever to gain eventual release? It seems outrageous. It might seem
"politically incorrect" of me, but ...

The PC brigade will probably forgive him for the murders and then arrest him for being overweight.

Oh christ...Here we go again. They are NOT going to release the guy! About every year or two a "sensational" article comes out like this about how they are going to release a serial killer. And the Right begins streaming bloody murder...And the comments of "political correctness" start getting flung about. This is so OLD and so BORING! One "stage" in the justice "process" recommended the prisoner be released. He still has about another two or three "stages" to go through before his release will be approved. And NO politician right or left is going to sign off on this. Of course the press isn't going to wait for this long when they can scare people into buying their newspaper with this type of journalistic tripe...

And please British right-wingers...will you PLEASE stop using the term "political correctness" in every other post on this board! Geesh! I've been meaning to bring this up for a couple of years now but haven't to avoid sounding too "confrontational". But in every thread on this board where something remotely "political" becomes the topic of discussion at least ONE poster has to use this term to describe ANYTHING they consider "left of center". That's fine if you want to argue against policies you disagree with, but stop using tired old cliched terms that make you sound ignorant (though I'm not accusing the above two posters of necessarily being "ignorant"). I'm assuming the posters above are Brits since this is the only message board I've been to where this term is more bandied about (and this board isn't even ABOUT politics)! I believe the American right burned out on this term about 5-10 years ago, except maybe in the southern U.S.

[Robert]

Hi Pinkerton

Well, that's what we know it as here - political correctness. Maybe these people are calling themselves something different now, but the name has stuck.

We have a Government that tells us what to think, what to say, what to do, and even what to eat.

Don't blame me, I didn't vote for the bastards.

[Pinkerton]

We have a Government that tells us what to think, what to say, what to do, and even what to eat

As opposed to...?

[Brenda]

Look, the article says he weighs 19 stone. Be a bit difficult to miss,don't you think? A bit difficult to move, I would also think.

Weight can be lost. And being free to kill again might be his greatest motivating factor to lose weight.