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From Monsters and Critics.com UK News London - Convicted British serial killer Peter Sutcliffe, also known as the Yorkshire Ripper, is seeking his release from jail by claiming that his human rights have been breached, a leading London law firm confirmed Wednesday. Sutcliffe was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1981 for murdering 13 women and trying to kill seven others across West Yorkshire in northern England in the late 1970s. The judge ruled at the time that he would have to serve at least 30 years. But Saimo Chahal, a partner in London-based firm Bindmans & Partners, believes the tariff was never formalized. Sutcliffe began his sentence in a normal prison, but was moved to Broadmoor secure hospital in Berkshire, near London, three years later after being diagnosed with schizophrenia. The lawyer, claiming that Sutcliffe's human rights have been flouted, aims to reintegrate him into the mainstream prison system for a reassessment of his psychiatric condition and a review of the length of sentence he must serve. He claims that the government is in breach of Article Five of the European Convention of Human Rights in failing to set a tariff. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said she found it 'hard to imagine circumstances' in which Sutcliffe could be freed. © Copyright 2007 by monstersandcritics.com. This notice cannot be removed without permission. |