Sonia Sutcliffe

Sonia Sutcliffe (born 10 August 1950)[1]) is the former wife of the British serial killer Peter Sutcliffe.

Marriage to Sutcliffe

Sonia married Sutcliffe on 10 August 1974, her 24th birthday[2] two years after she began treatment for schizophrenia.[3] Her relationship with her husband was later characterised by writer Gordon Burn as domineering, with Sonia willing to slap him down "like a naughty schoolboy".[4] When her husband was found guilty for the murder of multiple women, Sonia remained married to him and continued to live in the family home in Bradford, eventually divorcing in 1994. Barbara Jones, a journalist who had many conversations with Sonia, described her as "the most irritating, strangest and coldest person I've ever met. She's so incredibly prickly and demanding".[5]

Libel case against Private Eye

In 1989 a libel action against the satirical magazine Private Eye, brought by Sonia Sutcliffe, came to court. Her decision to sue was made shortly before the limitation on such actions, then six years, was due to expire. The case concerned a January 1981 article which detailed her attempts to make financial deals with newspapers and claimed that she was attempting to profit from her husband's crimes.[6] Private Eye admitted at the time that it had made two errors in the article, but the plaintiff (Sutcliffe) rejected the offer of a correction.[6]

In court, George Carman, the magazine's QC, described her as "dancing on the graves of her husband's victims".[7] At the end of the trial on 24 May, Sutcliffe was awarded record libel damages against the magazine of £600,000; £100,000 more than previously.[8] The editor, Ian Hislop, stated that "If that's justice, I'm a banana", and announced his immediate intention to appeal. A crowd-sourced fund named "Bananaballs" was successfully set up to pay for the appeal's legal costs, and the amount was eventually reduced to £60,000.[9] Although none of it was allowed at the appeal, evidence had come to light which disputed the claims the plaintiff had made in court. Two newspapers Sutcliffe had sued, the Daily Express and the Daily Star, settled with her.[6]

One other newspaper which formed part of her legal action, the News of the World did not. When the case came to court in December 1990, details emerged which demonstrated that she had benefited financially from her husband's crimes. The jury found for the News of the World, and she was ordered to pay the legal costs of the both sides in the case.[6][10]

References
  1. "Peter Sutcliffe". www.killers.wadum.dk. Retrieved 2020-05-10.
  2. "Manchester's Vilest: The Yorkshire Ripper". Manchester’s Finest. 2019-08-06. Retrieved 2020-05-10.
  3. Clarke, Chris; Tate, Tim (2015). Yorkshire Ripper - The Secret Murders. John Blake Publishing Ltd. p. 24. ISBN 978-1784184186.
  4. Gordon Burn, Somebody's Husband, Somebody's Son, London: Faber, p. 152-153.
  5. Phillips, Caroline. "How I got Into The Mind Of The Ripper". Evening Standard. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  6. Greenslade, Roy (2004). Press Gang: How Newspapers Make Profits From Propaganda. London: Pan Macmillan. pp. 440–441. ISBN 9780330393768.
  7. "A master of the memorable one-liner". Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  8. "1989 (May 24): Yorkshire Ripper's wife wins damages". BBC On This Day. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  9. "Eye and mighty: 50 years on the satirical highway". Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  10. Frankel, Glenn (24 March 1992). "London, Tailor Made for Libel". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
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