Case file · Central Criminal Court (Old Bailey), England and Wales, United Kingdom

Peter William Sutcliffe (later Peter Coonan): charges, verdict and sentence

Peter Sutcliffe was convicted at the Old Bailey in 1981 of 13 murders, after a jury rejected his plea of diminished responsibility, and pleaded guilty to seven attempted murders. He received mandatory life sentences on 22 May 1981 with a recommended minimum of 30 years. In 2010 the High Court imposed a whole life order, upheld by the Court of Appeal in 2011, and he died in hospital as a prisoner of HMP Frankland on 13 November 2020.

Charges and outcomes

Sentence

Mandatory life sentences (1981) with a recommended minimum of 30 years, converted to a whole life order by the High Court on 16 July 2010.

Court record, stage by stage

1. May 1981
   verdictJury convicted him of 13 murders and rejected diminished responsibility. He had pleaded guilty to seven attempted murders^1,3

   Central Criminal Court (Old Bailey)
2. 22 May 1981
   sentenceMandatory life sentences imposed by Mr Justice Boreham, who recommended a minimum of 30 years^1,3

   Central Criminal Court
3. 16 July 2010
   resentencingMr Justice Mitting made a whole life order on a referral under Schedule 22 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, as no tariff had ever been set¹

   High Court, Queen's Bench Division
4. 14 January 2011
   appealCourt of Appeal dismissed his appeal against the whole life order²

   Court of Appeal (Criminal Division)
5. 13 November 2020
   deathDied in hospital aged 74 as a prisoner of HMP Frankland, after contracting Covid 19, the Prison Service said³

Notable rulings

• High Court, Queen's Bench Division, [2010] EWHC 1741 (QB), 16 July 2010. The jury's rejection of diminished responsibility bound the court, and progress in detention did not justify less than a whole life order.¹
• Court of Appeal (Criminal Division), [2011] EWCA Crim 5, 14 January 2011. A whole life order was the only proportionate sentence given the exceptional seriousness of the offending.²

Sources

1. The National Archives, Find Case Law, R v Peter Coonan (formerly Sutcliffe) [2010] EWHC 1741 (QB) (16 July 2010) · court or official record
2. The National Archives, Find Case Law, R v Coonan (formerly Sutcliffe) [2011] EWCA Crim 5 (14 January 2011) · court or official record
3. CNN, Peter Sutcliffe, the 'Yorkshire Ripper', dies (13 November 2020)

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