Peter William Sutcliffe (1946-2020) Poem by Sheena Blackhall

The Yorkshire Ripper murdered 13 women
Tried to kill seven more at the very least
Died of Covid, Black Friday the 13th
Slayer of:

Wilma, Emily, Irene, Patricia
Jayne,Jean, Yvonne, Josephine
Helen, Marguerite & Vera
Barbara & Jacqueline…

He stole their hopes, their futures
Creature of the night, of blood, of evil

Their deaths were terror-laden,
Hammered, slashed, stabbed, stamped upon
In the dark, in alleys and parks, unseen, unaided

Raised a Catholic, Sutcliffe was a loner
Gravedigger, voyeur, sadist, lorry driver

A hoaxer delayed his capture
‘Wearside Jack' laid a false trail of tapes and letters
John Samuel Humble, alcoholic trickster

The Leeds Revolutionary Feminist Group
Marched out to 'Reclaim the Night'
Criticised the police for victim-blaming,
For suggesting that women stayed indoors
To hide in safety, after darkness fell

Sutcliffe declared the voice of God drove him to kill
The Attorney General, said of the Ripper's victims
"Some were prostitutes, but …the saddest part of the case
Is that some were not. The last six attacks
Were on totally respectable women."

When is the worth of a woman's life described by work?

Later, his fellow inmates passed their sentences:
At Parkhurst Prison, a prisoner plunged broken glass
Into his face. In Broadmoor, a robber strangled him with a cable

He wis stabbed in both eyes by a prisoner wielding a pen
Blinded in the left eye, the other badly damaged

Another fellow inmate lunged at him with a knife
Shouting "You fucking raping, murdering bastard, '
As he stabbed his cheek.

Wilma, Emily, Irene, Patricia
Jayne,Jean, Yvonne, Josephine
Helen, Marguerite & Vera
Barbara & Jacqueline…
He stole their hopes, their futures
Creature of the night, of blood, of evil

The devil incarnate, bringer of hate and death
Had passed into criminal history, unmourned
The shattered families of the women he had slain
Spoke only of closure, as the tide of time
Finally cleared the beach, a clean sweep