PETER Sutcliffe, the notorious serial killer who murdered 13 women, has died at the age of 74.
Known as the Yorkshire Ripper, Sutcliffe, a former lorry driver from Bingley, committed a five year reign of terror around West Yorkshire between 1975 and 1980.
Sutcliffe had been ill for several weeks and is understood to have been suffering from Covid-19.
Earlier this week the T&A reported that he was refusing treatment at a hospital in County Durham close to Frankland Prison where he was incarcerated.
He was taken to the University Hospital of North Durham following a suspected heart attack at the end of October.
After returning to the prison, he developed Covid-19 symptoms and was taken back to the hospital earlier this month.
READ MORE: Peter Sutcliffe 'has Covid-19'
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READ MORE: Yorkshire Ripper's five-year reign of terror
Sutcliffe was reportedly refusing treatment from doctors for the killer virus in hospital.
Due to suffering from diabetes, being obese and because of his advanced age, Sutcliffe was particularly vulnerable that has already claimed tens of thousands of people’s lives across the UK.
A Prison Service spokesperson said: “HMP Frankland prisoner Peter Coonan (born Sutcliffe) died in hospital on 13 November.
"The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman has been informed.”
The Yorkshire Ripper’s death came on the eve of what would have been his 40th year behind bars for the 13 murders of women in West Yorkshire and Manchester.
Jailed in 1981, for the murders and attacking nine others, Sutcliffe received 20 life sentences, which was extended to a whole life term in 2010.
Following his imprisonment, Sutcliffe was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic and after almost three years at HMP Pankhurst on the Isle of Wight he was transferred to the secure Broadmoor Hospital in 1984, where he was incarcerated until 2016.
After being deemed sane enough to return to prison, Sutcliffe was transferred to the Category A HMP Frankland, where he has been ever since.
He claimed that he had heard the voice of God which told him to kill prostitutes - many of his victims were sex workers - but the true motivation of his crimes has been the subject of much speculation over the past 40 years.
Sutcliffe evaded capture for several years, despite being interviewed in connection to the Ripper investigation nine times, until he was caught in Sheffield driving on false plates, and during subsequent questioning confessed to the killings.
After he was found guilty, the Telegraph & Argus report said that women in West Yorkshire “now surely know they can walk the streets without fear”.
It was described as the “trial of the century” and said that Sutcliffe’s “jaw dropped” when the guilty verdicts were handed down by the jury.
When Sutcliffe appealed for a minimum term to be set on his sentence in 2010, Mr Justice Mitting said: “This was a campaign of murder which terrorised the population of a large part of Yorkshire for several years.
“The only explanation for it, on the jury’s verdict, was anger, hatred and obsession.
“Apart from a terrorist outrage, it is difficult to conceive of circumstances in which one man could account for so many victims.”
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