How many people did the Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe kill?

Serial killer Peter Sutcliffe's abhorrent crimes and their ripple effect on the victims' families are being examined in a new ITV drama.

The Long Shadow, which begins on ITV1 on Monday, September 25, focuses on the lives of the women who were murdered by the Yorkshire Ripper between 1975 and 1980. The lorry driver, from Bingley, Bradford, sparked one of Britain's largest manhunts when he began murdering women - mainly prostitutes - in West Yorkshire and Manchester.

Likened to Jack The Ripper, who targeted prostitutes in London in 1888, Sutcliffe managed to evade police for five years. This was despite being quizzed by cops nine times, before the HGV driver finally came clean about his crimes.

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Sutcliffe began attacking prostitutes in 1969 and murdered his first victim in 1975, a year after he'd married his wife Sonia - who he'd met at a red light district nightclub in Bradford. Evil Sutcliffe would target lone women, including university students, hitting them over the head with a hammer before stabbing them and removing their clothes.

Some of the women he attacked pulled through but were left with serious injuries. His youngest victim, who survived the ordeal, was just 14 years old.

In 1981, Sutcliffe was convicted of the murder of 13 women and the attempted murder of seven others. He also attacked 10 more women in the north of England.

Sutcliffe was sentenced to life in prison for a maximum of 30 years, but this was changed to a whole life order in 2010. It meant he would die in prison. In 2020, he died in hospital while still in police custody.

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