Non-motoring > Yorkshire Ripper
Thread Author: Zero Replies: 17

 Yorkshire Ripper - Zero
>> The Yorkshire Ripper has died, police are looking for a man with a Geordie accent.

Wearside Jack aka John Samuel Humble. If ever there was a joke, it was the police being completely useless.
Last edited by: smokie on Sat 14 Nov 20 at 19:17
 Yorkshire Ripper - zippy
>> >> The Yorkshire Ripper has died, police are looking for a man with a Geordie
>> accent.
>>
>> Wearside Jack aka John Samuel Humble. If ever there was a joke, it was the
>> police being completely useless.
>>

The joke being he only got 8 years for effectively allowing Sutcliffe to kill three more women. Should have been life as well.
Last edited by: smokie on Sat 14 Nov 20 at 19:17
 Yorkshire Ripper - Bromptonaut
>> The joke being he only got 8 years for effectively allowing Sutcliffe to kill three
>> more women. Should have been life as well.

Seriously?
Last edited by: smokie on Sat 14 Nov 20 at 19:17
 Terrible jokes thread. - zippy
>> >> The joke being he only got 8 years for effectively allowing Sutcliffe to kill
>> three
>> >> more women. Should have been life as well.
>>
>> Seriously?
>>

Normally I would just put him down as an attention seeking idiot.

In this case the police had Sutcliffe as a suspect but didn't progress it because of him.

If he hadn't been in the picture there is a good chance Sutcliffe would have been arrested and therefore those 3 women would have lived.

So yes, in my book 8 years wasn't anywhere near enough.
Last edited by: zippy on Sat 14 Nov 20 at 14:40
 Yorkshire Ripper - Bromptonaut
>> If he hadn't been in the picture there is a good chance Sutcliffe would have
>> been arrested and therefore those 3 women would have lived.
>>
>> So yes, in my book 8 years wasn't anywhere near enough.

It's not clear why he was taken seriously. Women who were attacked and survived repeatedly said the man had a local accent. The West Yorkshire force interviewed him on multiple occasions but when actually caught it was it was in South Yorkshire and because his car had false plates.

God knows how many people were interviewed though. A then colleague of my Mother's, a teacher who'd previously been a pharmacist, used to do relief in Chemist's shops in the rougher parts the West Yorkshire was picked up. Twice I think. The fact that he had a hammer and screwdrivers in the boot of his car meant he was arrested and captioned.

There was a superficial resemblance, dark hair and beard, but he was grossly overweight. There was some suspicion amongst his colleagues that he was a regular client of the oldest profession and may have opted for relief duties in areas where he would find such people.
Last edited by: smokie on Sat 14 Nov 20 at 19:17
 Yorkshire Ripper - Bromptonaut
Missed the edit:

Reports in the last few days underline the view that the West Yorkshire force were close to incompetent. One might also suspect that the juxtapostion of so called respectable victims with those who were in the sex industry coloured the investigation.

The Obit for the then Chief Constable is less than glowing about that phase in his career.

www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/apr/18/ronald-gregory-obituary
Last edited by: smokie on Sat 14 Nov 20 at 19:19
 Yorkshire Ripper - tyrednemotional
>>
>> There was some suspicion amongst his colleagues that he was a regular client of the oldest
>> profession and may have opted for relief duties in areas where he would find such
>> people.
>>

..Freudian slip...?
Last edited by: smokie on Sat 14 Nov 20 at 19:19
 Yorkshire Ripper - sooty123
> God knows how many people were interviewed though.

I read somewhere over 100k people were interviewed /questioned.
Last edited by: smokie on Sat 14 Nov 20 at 19:17
 Yorkshire Ripper - hawkeye
>> > God knows how many people were interviewed though.
>>
>> I read somewhere over 100k people were interviewed /questioned.
>>

We lived in Harehills, Leeds which adjoins Chapeltown, at the time the Ripper was active. A Panda car was parked outside our house overnight for what seemed like months. At the time I was working occasional late evenings as a coach driver ferrying darts teams and other revellers around Yorkshire. The Police were busy at that time collecting car reg numbers of people passing through the area which resulted in either a telephone call or personal interview. Mrs H got a visit while I was out bowling along the A1 in a full Bedford Duple bus with its horrible chinese-H gearbox and sticky pneumatic doors. Newly-married Mrs H was at first feared that I had had an accident but was able to reassure the police that we were on holiday abroad when one of Sutcliffe's victims was done in.
My new father-in-law, whose reg number had also been taken, was also interviewed in Huddersfield.
 Yorkshire Ripper - smokie
Interesting...

For a bit of thread drift...

I remember as a nipper there was an on-the-run killer running round somewhere near where we lived, Harry Roberts, for some weeks, and I remember having to stay in occasionally as a result. I'd have been 9 or 10 I guess.

With Broadmoor only a few miles form here we are within the area which the siren used to warn of escapees. it was tested each week but I don't recall it going off in anger. Wikipedia reports it did in 1991.
 Yorkshire Ripper - Bromptonaut
>> I remember as a nipper there was an on-the-run killer running round somewhere near where
>> we lived, Harry Roberts, for some weeks, and I remember having to stay in occasionally
>> as a result. I'd have been 9 or 10 I guess.

I remember him being in the news, I'd have been about 6 or 7 at the time. Long way from us as it turned out but IIRC he could have been hiding anywhere.

The Moors murderers were active around the same time. Although they were in Lancs/Greater Manchester it was thought possible they'd crossed into the West Riding looking for victims. The usual warnings about strangers etc were doubly emphasised at school assembly.
 Yorkshire Ripper - Fullchat
Junior FC's first year Student accommodation was on Alma Road in Headingly, Leeds where his last victim, Jacqueline Hill, was on her way back to when she met her tragic fate.
I didn't pass on that nugget until she moved on in her second year.
 Yorkshire Ripper - Fullchat
Today is the 40th anniversary of Jacqueline's death.
 Yorkshire Ripper - tyrednemotional
>>
>> I remember him being in the news.......
>>

...I can still remember the refrain mentioned at the bottom of his Wikipedia page echoing around football grounds in abuse of the police contingent...

"Harry Roberts is our friend, is our friend....etc.."

Times and football have changed a bit.
 Yorkshire Ripper - Kevin
The cops in Sheffield initially thought that they were dealing with just another prostitute and her john. It was only when they started checking id that the old coppers nose started twitching and they discovered the fake plates etc.
The Sgt. who arrested him was a member of the same golf club as dad.

Maybe this should be in it's own thread. .......................Done. smokie
Last edited by: smokie on Sat 14 Nov 20 at 19:19
 Yorkshire Ripper - Fullchat
If I recall Sutcliffe managed to persuade the Cop to let him have a pee. After hed finished the Cop examined the area and found the hammer.
It was all downhill for him from that point.
 Yorkshire Ripper - Kevin
I think they went back and checked gardens where he'd had a P after the penny dropped that he could be the ripper.
That Sgt. I think his name was Bob, saved me from what could have been an awkward situation one night. Myself and a mate were on our way home from a concert at Uni and decided to grab some fish and chips in Hillsborough. I was driving my dad's car, a Rover 3500S, and pulled up a side road to park. When we got back to the car it was surrounded by two cop cars and a dog van.
The Sgt. told the others that he knew me and everything was OK. Apparently a little old dear had seen two youths dump a posh car outside her house and run off down the street. Bless her.
 Yorkshire Ripper - Fullchat
At the time major incidents had a card indexing system. With better computers and programmes HOLMES (Home Office Large Major Enquiry System) was introduced in 85
So I suppose with such a large inquiry the clunkier it became. Couple that with management style and culture then it became what it it did.
The Soham Murders likewise revealed a major flaw in Police information systems. There are 6 major databases throughout forces and only PNC is national. Every force procured something different so basically cross force enquiries had to be done manually. There is now in place a Police National Database which all those separate systems feed into.
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