26 September 2023 , 08:14
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The son of Wilma McCann, who was just five when she was killed by Peter Sutcliffe, joined Good Morning Britain on Tuesday to discuss ITV drama The Long Shadow, which depicts the the five-year hunt for Sutcliffe.
ITV spoke to the families of the victims when creating the drama and purposefully didn't use the moniker 'Yorkshire Ripper'. Explaining why it's important for Sutcliffe's real name to be used, Richard said: "It's a triggering word, if you think about what that word is trying to describe so for the family members it reminds them of the horror of what he did to the woman.
"But, also the bigger picture, media, police should not be using these monikers because it almost creates this picture of [murderers] that isn't reality. It creates this monster when actually he was a softly, spoken, mild, Bradford lorry driver so when they were presented with him, they were imagining something else. It's wrong to be using these monikers and it inspires other killers to follow in their footsteps."
Richard told Richard Madeley and Susanna Reid that he forgave his mother's killer (SWNS)
Richard chooses not to refer to Peter Sutcliffe as the Yorkshire Ripper (Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)When asked whether he "hates [Sutcliffe's] soul", Richard replied: "I did. Me and Sonia [Richard’s sister] plotted revenge. She was going to write to him, befriend him, go visit him and kill him. That was how we thought all those years ago. But, I've been on a bit of a journey for the past 48 years and I let go of the anger and the need for revenge in 2010 when I met Desmond Tutu who spoke about forgiveness. And I decided to let go of that and forgive him."
"Desmond Tutu’s words were, ‘You can't force a person to forgive another but when it occurs, it can change a situation’. I thought, I can't change my mom's death, I can't bring her back but, I can change how it impacts on me and I let it go. I didn't become his friend, incidentally, I used to think forgiveness was for the other person but it's not, forgiveness is for you to let go of the anger," he added.
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Tragically, Richard's older sister, Sonia Newlands, who used her mother's maiden name, took her own life in the week before Christmas 2007. He admitted he found her death "more painful" than losing his mother.