Sutcliffe released, never (although he was allowed out to see where his dad's ashes had been scattered). Hindley, I'm not so sure. I think that when either Straw or Blunkett was Home Sec that her release was given more than a passing consideration. Pressure was applied through the Catholic Church, possibly directed, almost certainly via Blair (who wished to convert from C of E).Not my recollection pal. Utterly inconceivable Hindley or Sutcliffe would ever be released. As I recall, in terms if Hindley, her parole dates (as they then were) were deployed by the Sun and the Mail to work people into a frenzy about something that was never going to happen.
Didn't they have a "dummy run" with Hindley? In that she was allowed out under supervision at one point but all hell broke loose when the media reported it.Sutcliffe released, never (although he was allowed out to see where his dad's ashes had been scattered). Hindley, I'm not so sure. I think that when either Straw or Blunkett was Home Sec that her release was given more than a passing consideration. Pressure was applied through the Catholic Church, possibly directed, almost certainly via Blair (who wished to convert from C of E).
Couldn’t see it personally. Politically too much to lose with no discernible payback. Definitely not Blunkett imo. Couldn’t completely discount Straw, I guess.Sutcliffe released, never (although he was allowed out to see where his dad's ashes had been scattered). Hindley, I'm not so sure. I think that when either Straw or Blunkett was Home Sec that her release was given more than a passing consideration. Pressure was applied through the Catholic Church, possibly directed, almost certainly via Blair (who wished to convert from C of E).
Pretty sure it was Straw, to the point he had to make a statement.Couldn’t see it personally. Politically too much to lose with no discernible payback. Definitely not Blunkett imo. Couldn’t completely discount Straw, I guess.
Politically, absolutely nothing to gain and a lot to lose. I've always wondered how it evaded the hands of the European Court as I'm sure she (and others) would surely have had good legal (if not moral) grounds to challenge the parole system. I'm always struck too by her line: "Infamous, I have become disowned, but I am one of your own". I do think she was utterly besotted / infatuated with Brady and that, were she never to have met him, her life may have been one of a typical Gorton girl. Brady just seems like the devil incarnate. Then I see the transcript of the Downey tape and the utter grief of all the families of all the victims and know I'd want her locked up for ever.Couldn’t see it personally. Politically too much to lose with no discernible payback. Definitely not Blunkett imo. Couldn’t completely discount Straw, I guess.
Yep. I’m no expert on this kind of thing but I think that was a pretty easy call for the judge to make. Anyone with half a brain cell could see through Sutcliffe’s “moral crusader” story as many of his victims weren’t prostitutes so his argument doesn’t even get past first base for me. And even if he was telling the truth, those women he killed who were working girls were still real people and no less worthwhile than anyone else who wasn’t in that profession.To be honest, I don't know what was in the psychiatric reports, just that it definitely came out in cross-examination. I've always thought that the prosecution was too willing to accept Sutcliffe's own self-serving version of events, and that it was inadequate to commission psychiatric evaluations that were based solely on what he said. That there was an aim to prevent details of the case from becoming public to protect the reputation of West Yorkshire Police is just my speculation.
I accept what you say about the judge being intellectually honest in his decision and take the point that he made the decision in question without having heard the evidence in full. I do think his stance was subsequently justified, but I'm not unbiased here. I've always been fascinated by this case, and it's always been a hobbyhorse of mine that Sutcliffe tried to portray himself as a moral crusader when in fact IMO he's a vicious, tawdry and utterly repellent dysfunctional sex killer.
I don't know if anyone on here heard it, but there was a recording doing the rounds several years ago of him talking about his attack on Tracey Browne. It was utterly nauseating and typifies my objection to the way he sought to portray himself down the years.
FWIW, I was on nodding acquaintance with Sutcliffe. We often drank in the same pub. He always seemed quiet and unassuming. But dont they always?
His two brothers, however, were well known: one a drug dealer and one a thief.
The dealer never was prosecuted even tho' he dealt openly and ran a Porsche while officially unemployed. It was said the drug squad tipped him off. Retired to a farm he bought.
The thief 'went away' on a regular basis.
The NoW got wind of the drug dealing and spent several weeks in the local trying to buy drugs off the dealer as part of a sting. Typically, they got the wrong brother and could not understand why he was reluctant. We knew who the reporters were, but never let on to them their mistake. Eventually, the thief sold them some pills and was caught and prosecuted. He retired to a block of sheltered housing as their security manager!
Two mates went out with Sutcliffe's two sisters, nothing outrageous to report.
You may say that, but I couldn't possibly comment.Interesting read. Was Carl the dealer?
You may say that, but I couldn't possibly comment.
I have never read the book but the dealer was well known to anybody in the area at the time, but I wouldn't want to jeopardise this site.If anybody reads 'Somebody's Husband, Somebody's Son' by Gordon Burn, they should be able to take a fairly shrewd guess as to which of the two younger Sutcliffe brothers best fits each of the respective descriptions.
I read your account of your mate and his girlfriend above, as well, and it's truly horrible. I wouldn't question the detail for a second, though (my late grandparents lived in Bradford and I spent a lot of time over there during school holidays when I was a kid - I'm going off the kinds of things I heard then).