09 October 2023 , 18:30
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ITV's new drama The Long Shadow tells the tragic stories of the victims of Peter Sutcliffe, also known as the Yorkshire Ripper, and how his murderous rampage was able to horrifically go on for so long. In 1981, the serial killer was convicted of killing 13 women and attempting to murder seven between 1975 and 1980.
Irene Richardson, 28, became Sutcliffe's third victim after she was brutally murdered on February 6, 1977. The young woman was a mother-of-three and was a sex worker from Chapeltown in Leeds. When Sutcliffe was finally arrested, four years after her death, he claimed that he was on a 'mission from God' to kill prostitutes, although not all his victims were.
Irene Richardson thought she was safe in her final few minutes before Sutcliffe shocked her (SWNS)On the night of February 5, Irene left her temporary accommodation in a rooming house and headed towards the Gaiety pub to earn money as a sex worker. Sutcliffe spotted her on the pavement and invited him inside his car, which she entered willingly - unbeknown to the horror she'd later face. Then he drove a mile along Roundhay Road into Roundhay Park, where he had formerly attacked another woman called Marcella Claxton.
Irene asked to use the bathroom, so Sutcliffe stopped his car near the toilets on Soldier's Field - but the toilets were locked. As Irene crouched down on the grass to relieve herself, Sutcliffe beat her three times on the head with his hammer. Then he slashed her chest with his Stanley knife and fled the scene. A jogger found her body laying on the grass at 7:30am the following morning, and police discovered tyre marks on the ground.
Geoff Beattie discovered he was the son of the Yorkshire Ripper's third victim Irene (Geoff Beattie / SWNS)As the hunt for the Ripper cast a dark shadow over the lives of women in Yorkshire, Sutcliffe murdered another nine victims over three years. In November 2022, the killer died in hospital after being diagnosed with coronavirus. In 2005, a man called Geoff Beattie discovered Irene was his biological mum and found out about her horrific death. He has since spoken out about being one of three children to Irene.
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"I left it for quite some time, but then when I did my research I discovered that my biological mum Irene Richardson was Sutcliffe's third victim," Geoff told the Metro. "I found out that my mum was murdered and that at the time her estranged husband was brought in for questioning. I felt numb, it was a shock to find out she had passed away because I knew I'd never meet her, but when I found out the details of her murder, it was even more of a shock."
Geoff was just seven years old when Irene was killed, although he knew nothing about her or the Yorkshire Ripper. He discovered that his mum was living in a hotel in Blackpool and working as a chambermaid when she was pregnant, so "there was no way she could have kept a child". Geoff believes it was the right decision to give him up for adoption.
The Long Shadow airs on ITV1 at 9pm tonight