View source for Peter Sutcliffe - Interviews during the Yorkshire Ripper Inquiry

Peter Sutcliffe was interviewed several times during the Inquiry:

== 2nd November 1977 - interviewed as part of the Bank of England £5 note investigation ==

On the 2nd November 1977 [http://crimehub.co.uk/index.php?title=Detective_Constable_Howard Detective Constable Howard] of the Greater Manchester Police together with a Detective Constable of the West Yorkshire Police interviewed Peter William Sutcliffe at his home. Sutcliffe’s employers had collected money from the Shipley branch of the Midland Bank to pay their employees. Sutcliffe, who was one of nearly 8,000 people listed for interview during the inquiry, denied ever having visited Manchester except during the course of his employment and said that his last visit had been some twelve months previously when he had delivered goods to an unknown address.

== 8th November 1977 - re-interviewed as part of the Bank of England £5 note investigation ==

T. & W.H. Clark was not one of the firms which could be eliminated in the £5 note inquiry and on 8th November 1977 Sutcliffe was re-interviewed by [http://crimehub.co.uk/index.php?title=Detective_Constable_Leslie_Smith_-_Yorkshire_Ripper_Investigation Detective Constable Leslie Smith] of West Yorkshire and [http://crimehub.co.uk/index.php?title=Detective_Constable_Rayne_-_Yorkshire_Ripper_Investigation Detective Constable Rayne] of the Greater Manchester Police. He again satisfied the inquiry officers, who obtained further alibi evidence from his mother in connection with the house-warming party mentioned previously. 

== 13th August 1978 - Red Corsair having been seen in multiple "red light" areas ==
 
On 13th August 1978, Peter William Sutcliffe was interviewed as a result of his red Ford Corsair car having been seen in  the Chapeltown area of Leeds and the Manningham area of Bradford.  [http://crimehub.co.uk/index.php?title=Detective_Constable_Peter_Smith_-_Yorkshire_Ripper_Inquiry Detective Constable Peter Smith] of the West Yorkshire Police, who knew that Sutcliffe had been seen during the [http://crimehub.co.uk/index.php?title=%C2%A35_Bank_of_England_note_-_The_Yorkshire_Ripper_Inquiry £5 note inquiry], visited him at his home in Garden Lane, Heaton, Bradford.  Detective Constable Smith knew that Sutcliffe worked as a lorry driver from a Bradford  base and assumed  that the sightings of his car in Bradford could be explained by journeys to and from work. Sutcliffe denied having visited Leeds or other West Yorkshire towns during evenings in the relevant period. He also emphatically denied using the services of prostitutes.

== 23rd November 1978 - re-interviewed as part of the Bank of England £5 note investigation ==

On the 23rd November 1978 Peter Sutcliffe was seen again by [http://crimehub.co.uk/index.php?title=Detective_Constable_Peter_Smith_-_Yorkshire_Ripper_Inquiry Detective Constable Smith] who obtained details of his Building Society account in connection  with  the £5 inquiry. Smith also  visited  the new owners of the red Corsair and obtained a description of the tyres, which were new, having apparently been fitted after the vehicle had changed hands.

== 29th July 1979 - interview after more "red light" area sightings ==

On the 29th July 1979 Sutcliffe was again interviewed after his black Sunbeam  Rapier  had been printed out, first as a “Double Area Sighting” and later as a “Triple Area Sighting”, having been seen in the "red light" areas of Leeds, Bradford and Manchester.  

Detective Constables Laptew and Greenwood visited him at his home. It is unfortunate that they were  not aware that Sutcliffe had already been interviewed in connection with the [http://crimehub.co.uk/index.php?title=%C2%A35_Bank_of_England_note_-_The_Yorkshire_Ripper_Inquiry £5 note inquiry] and also because of the "Double Sighting" of his earlier vehicle. 

Sutcliffe gave explanations for having been in Leeds and Bradford but denied that he had been to Manchester in his own vehicle. Because of the police decision to keep the "red light" area observations secret, investigating officers were advised not to challenge those whom they interviewed in respect of any individual sighting but were required to approach the subject obliquely. 

Sutcliffe again denied making use of prostitutes’ services and was again loosely alibied by his wife. The detectives obtained samples of his handwriting and searched his car and garage, finding nothing to connect him with the murders. They were, however, not satisfied with Peter Sutcliffe and reported their disquiet to the Major Incident Room. Unfortunately the report was not linked with previous papers and Sutcliffe was eliminated because <u>his handwriting did not match that of the Sunderland letter writer</u>.

== 23rd October 1979 - during the Barbara Leach investigation ==

On the 23rd October 1979 Sutcliffe was interviewed again, on this occasion by Detective Constables  Vickerman  and  Eland  who  were investigating  the  murder  of  Barbara  Leach.  This interview resulted from a resurrection of the inquiries made by [http://crimehub.co.uk/index.php?title=Detective_Constable_Peter_Smith_-_Yorkshire_Ripper_Inquiry Detective Constable Smith] who had seen Sutcliffe in August and November 1978 in connection with the sighting of the red Corsair motor car in the prostitute areas of Leeds and Bradford. 

The officers were told that Sutcliffe’s alibi for the [http://crimehub.co.uk/index.php?title=Jean_Jordan_-_Yorkshire_Ripper_Victim Jean Jordan] murder was inadequate and they were asked to check his movements  in relation to the murder of [http://crimehub.co.uk/index.php?title=Barbara_Leach_-_Yorkshire_Ripper_Victim Barbara Leach]. 

Unfortunately, they were unaware of the previous interview of Sutcliffe by [http://crimehub.co.uk/index.php?title=Detective_Constable_Laptew_-_Yorkshire_Ripper_Investigation Detective Constables Laptew] and [http://crimehub.co.uk/index.php?title=Detective_Constable_Greenwood_-_Yorkshire_Ripper_Investigation Greenwood] and of their reservations about him. When the officers spoke to him, Sutcliffe quickly volunteered the information that he had  been interviewed  before but he also said that on the night of  Barbara  Leach’s murder he had been  at home  working  on  improvements  to the house. This  was confirmed  by  his wife  as in previous interviews. A further handwriting sample was obtained and this was subsequently used to eliminate him from the inquiry again.

== 13th January 1980 ==

On the 13th January 1980 Sutcliffe was seen by Detective Sergeant Boot of West Yorkshire Police and Detective Constable Bell of the Greater Manchester Police who were unaware of the previous “Double” and “Triple Area Sighting” interviews.  

Sutcliffe  told  the officers  that  when he was not working as a lorry driver he spent all his spare time with his wife working in their house and that he did not go out in the evenings without her. This story was verified by his wife. Sutcliffe also told the officers that he had already been seen in connection with sightings of his motor cars. 

On learning this the officers returned to their office to check this information. The papers relating to the red Corsair sighting were located but those in respect of the black Sunbeam Rapier (which referred to the Manchester sighting) were not because they were attached to documents which were waiting to be returned to Sutcliffe’s employers. 

His footwear and the tools he kept in his house were also examined but nothing of interest was found. Unfortunately the search was not thorough enough to discover a pair of wellington boots in a wardrobe. These boots could have linked Sutcliffe  with the murder  of  Emily  Jackson some 4 years previously. 

The  two  detectives knew that Sutcliffe had been eliminated on handwriting but, being suspicious about him, they recommended that another inquiry team should interview him to see whether they too might share similar reservations.