Where were 'Yorkshire Ripper' Peter Sutcliffe's ashes scattered? Victim's mother says should have been put in trash
The ashes of Peter Sutcliffe – dubbed the 'Yorkshire Ripper' by the media – were reportedly given to his brother Mick Sutcliffe, who then divided them into two parts and sent them to two of the late killer's close pals by Royal Mail special delivery. The 74-year-old died on November 13 due to coronavirus that resulted in lung failure. After his death, he was cremated secretly and the ashes were handed over to his brother by the funeral director in a box. Mick was quoted by The Mirror as he said, “Somebody called me last Thursday and said the ashes would be with me at 12 noon the next day. It was just white powder. I did not feel anything. He is gone and that is it.” He also said that “Peter wanted me to scatter them but it was too far for me to go, so I divided them up between two of his friends. They were two people who were regularly in touch with Peter and he considered them to be his friends.”
Sutcliffe killed 13 women between 1975 and 1980 across Yorkshire and the North West. He was serving a whole-life term for his crimes. Before being shifted to Frankland Prison, in County Durham, four years ago, the felon was behind bars for 32 years at high-security hospital Broadmoor in Berkshire. He died at a hospital in Durham after refusing treatment for the deadly virus. It has been said that his former wife Sonia, 70, who was listed as next of kin, arranged for his funeral. However, none of Peter’s family members were invited to the funeral. They only got to know about it after it was done. Mick, who was in constant touch with his late brother, said, “Our Peter would go absolutely barmy if he knew I didn’t know. Peter has caused so much pain. He also put our family through hell. So we needed to be at that funeral to get that closure.”
A source said: “It's grim his ashes were divided this way. It's predictable as he had a large group of supporters who wrote, visited and sent him gifts. The Newcastle bloke was barred from visiting him. He had newspaper cuttings of Sutcliffe at home and let him speak to his kids on the phone.” But Neil Jackson, from Leeds, whose mother was murdered by Sutcliffe stated: “It's appalling he'll be buried in Yorkshire. It'll upset a lot of people. And it's sick people want his ashes. They should take him to a tip.”
Meanwhile, reports have said that a new Netflix documentary has been slammed by angry family members of Sutcliffe’s victims because of its title. Earlier, the show was reportedly called ‘Once Upon a Time in Yorkshire’, later it’s name was changed to ‘The Ripper’, leaving people irked. “The moniker ‘the Yorkshire Ripper’ has traumatised us and our families for four decades. It glorifies the brutal violence of Peter Sutcliffe... those who participated would not have done so had we known this title would change to the name [that] has haunted us,” a letter to Netflix written by the families read. Also the 51-year-old Richard McCann, whose mother Wilma was Sutcliffe’s first known victim in 1975, said, “It is shocking. It’s just not taking into account what that word might do to the families.”