I’m The Yorkshire Ripper
Robin Perrie

“It’s me, love…I’m The Yorkshire Ripper.”

When Peter Sutcliffe spoke those words to his wife Sonia following his arrest in 1981 it marked the end of a killing spree which had terrorised northern England for five years. The nation had been appalled yet gripped by the Ripper and was now fascinated by the man behind the headlines. But despite millions of words being written about the case since his arrest 40 years ago, the full Peter Sutcliffe story has never been told - until now.

Based on a vast quantity of raw material collected from Sutcliffe himself over a period of 16 years, ‘I’m the Yorkshire Ripper’ is the compelling account of the most terrifying series of murders in British history – much of it in the killer’s own words.

The book covers all aspects of his life in intimate detail never publicly revealed before including:

• His relationship with his neglectful, violent father and his loving, devoted mother;
• His troubled school years and how he took violent revenge on a school bully;
• Significant life events which may have played a part in his future offending such as witnessing his grandma accidentally step on and kill the family’s pet kitten;
• The night when he first met his future wife Sonia, how he fell head over heels in love with her and details of their early dating years;
• His devastation when he discovered she was cheating on him, their furious row and his twisted plan to seek revenge by paying a woman for sex;
• An account of how that interaction went terribly wrong leading to his first attack when he struck his victim over the head with a pebble-filled sock;
•  The defining moment in his life in Bingley cemetery when, while working as a grave digger, he claimed to have first heard the voices which would later tell him to kill;
• The years when he killed 13 women;
• The incredible moment when, while on a shopping trip with Sonia, he walked past a woman who had survived one of his attacks;
• His arrest, trial and detention including his relationships with other high profile inmates including Ian Brady and Ronnie Kray;
• His time in Broadmoor and how he once tried to escape with the help of Kray;
• His account of what the voices sounded like, what they said and how he responded;
• His reaction to the theories of why he became a serial killer – and his own theory.