Tragedy of Yorkshire Ripper's first victim's daughter - and her son's wish

25 September 2023 , 19:00

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Wilma's children - Richard McCann and Sonia Newlands, who died by suicide in 2007

Mum-of-four Wilma McCann was Peter Sutcliffe's first known victim. The 28-year-old had gone out drinking one evening in October 1975 but never came home to her children. She was brutally murdered on playing fields in Chapeltown, Leeds, just yards from their home.

Sutcliffe, known as the Yorkshire Ripper, who died in hospital almost three years ago, went on to murder 12 more women over the following five years, which police believed to be a spate of violent attacks targeting sex workers. However the 1977 murder of 16-year-old Jayne MacDonald prompted fresh fear, but also controversy, as West Yorkshire Police released a statement saying "innocent women" were now also being killed.

ITV's new drama, The Long Shadow, which airs tonight, retells the horrors Sutcliffe inflicted, with particular focus on his victims and their families. The haunting seven-parter features Toby Jones, David Morrissey, Katherine Kelly, Daniel Mays and Jill Halfpenny. Of Wilma McCann's children, her son Richard has spoken out about the negative rhetoric used to describe Sutcliffe's victims like his mum, which he says suggested it was deserved. While her oldest, daughter Sonia, also spoke about her grief before her tragic death.

Wilma McCann was 28 when Sutcliffe stabbed her to death (Mirrorpix via Getty Images)

The Yorkshire Ripper was handed a whole life order for his murders (Getty Images)

Sonia Newlands, who used her mother's maiden name, was seven when she and her brother Richard, then aged five, went to wait at the bus stop their mother normally used when she never returned home. In 2005, she told a BBC documentary: "I think most people remember the number 13 - for the number of women he killed. But what about the children - there's 25 of them and no one remembers them."

Two years later, in the week before Christmas 2007, Sonia was found dead in her Leeds home, where it is believed she hanged herself. The daughter of the murder victim had been battling alcohol addiction in a rehabilitation centre before her death on December 17.

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Screenwriter George Kay last week said his ITV series highlights how the devastating impact Sutcliffe had went beyond his 13 female victims and devastated the lives of their children even once he was behind bars. He claimed Sonia was his final victim. Referencing Sonia's quotes from the 2005 documentary, he said: "This is what our show, The Long Shadow, encapsulates. For in my view, thirty-two years after he first killed, Sonia Newlands became Peter Sutcliffe’s final victim."

In 2020, 45 years since his mother's killing, where she was attacked with a hammer and stabbed several times, Richard, then 45, called for an official apology from West Yorkshire Police over the language used to describe Sutcliffe's victims, which he claims suggested "sex workers' lives were somehow worth less".

Richard McCann, the son of the Yorkshire Ripper's first victim Wilma McCann (YEP / SWNS.com)

In a video posted online, Richard, who still lives in Leeds and works as a motivational speaker, paid a tribute to his mother before detailing his poignant wish. He said: "45 years ago tonight, my mum went out drinking. If only I had known what was to come, I maybe would have held her a little bit closer for a little bit longer and told her how much I loved her. Because the following morning the pair of us, me and (sister) Sonia, walked to the street looking for my mum and of course we all know what happened next."

He went on to say that his mother had been described as having "somehow deserved what she got". "The fifth person to die was a girl called Jayne MacDonald and she lived on the same street that we lived with my mum, and it was then that it was announced that he'd killed an 'innocent victim'. My mum was more than just a 'good time girl' or a 'woman of loose morals', as she was described by the police.

"I hate the things that they said about some of the women, including my mum. It's like they seem to forget the person behind that black and white mugshot that I hated for years." He added: "My request is for West Yorkshire Police to finally make an apology. This is not aimed at any individual, this is West Yorkshire Police as a public body there to protect us.

"I want to ask them to put the record straight and to make that apology for how they described some of the women, including my mum, as 'deserving' of what happened to them somehow. These things are absolutely appalling that took place and the effects of that are still being felt."

Sutcliffe was sentenced to a whole life order in 1981 after he was finally caught in a chance encounter during a routine police patrol in Sheffield. During his trial, prosecutor Sir Michael Havers controversially said while some of the victims were prostitutes, "perhaps the saddest part of this case is that some were not".

Twelve of the thirteen victims of Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper, who died in hospital (PA)

Sutcliffe, who carried out his hideous crimes on women between 1975 and 1980, eventually died while being held at Broadmoor Hospital aged 74 in November 2020. Already suffering from diabetes, angina and paranoid schizophrenia, Sutcliffe was taken from a maximum security prison near Durham to hospital on October 28, 2020, to have a pacemaker fitted. In early November, he had tested positive for coronavirus, where he suffered from chest pain and coughing. Sutcliffe's condition deteriorated and on November 12 his restraints were removed for "decency". The killer, who was kept in chains until shortly before his death, died just after 1am on November 13, 2020.

Following his passing, Richard's appeal was finally heard, as West Yorkshire Police Chief Constable John Robins apologised to the victims' families on behalf of the force. He said: "On behalf of West Yorkshire Police, I apologise for the additional distress and anxiety caused to all relatives by the language, tone and terminology used by senior officers at the time in relation to Peter Sutcliffe’s victims.

“Such language and attitudes may have reflected wider societal attitudes of the day, but it was as wrong then as it is now. A huge number of officers worked to identify and bring Peter Sutcliffe to justice and it is a shame that their hard work was overshadowed by the language of senior officers used at the time, the effect of which is still felt today by surviving relatives.

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“Thankfully those attitudes are consigned to history and our approach today is wholly victim focused, putting them at the centre of everything we do. The well-documented Byford and Sampson reviews fully explored many issues. However, the reports did not fully address the issue of how victims were portrayed and described, which impacted on families, friends and wider public perception. I offer this heartfelt apology today as the Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police."

*The Long Shadow airs Monday at 9pm on ITV

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