Peter
Sutcliffe murdered thirteen women but the last three might never have died horrific
deaths had policeman Andy Laptew been believed. He first identified Sutcliffe
as the Yorkshire Ripper who was spreading terror in the streets of northern
England. Unfortunately senior detectives did not believe him and even ridiculed
him. Here I am at the crematorium where the final bit of his life came to a
close.
The Yorkshire Ripper wasn’t caught
until January 1981 but in August 1979 Andy - a young policeman at the time -
alerted senior detectives that a Bradford lorry driver called Peter Sutcliffe
was a serious suspect for the (then) ten murders. Along with Detective Constable Graham Greenwood
he produced a two-page report which pointed the finger at Sutcliffe. He'd identified a pattern of similarities between Sutcliffe and
the known facts that were too coincidental. He might have been
believed but police chiefs concentrated their efforts on three anonymous
letters and a cassette tape they'd received from a man from Sunderland claiming
to be the killer (all a hoax.) Andy's report was dismissed, marked “to file” and no further action was taken. Sixteen
months of time and costly police effort were wasted before
"the Ripper" was caught.
Andy had taken his concerns to Detective Superintendent Dick Holland
and was made to feel so small that he “could have crawled under the crack in
the door”. Later he said he had been “the lone voice crying out in
the wilderness against West Yorkshire Police and I was a pariah when all I had
ever done was display loyalty. People I thought were friends ignored me, senior
officers made life a little difficulty for me and instead of speaking to me
they would grunt at me."
The police hunt for “the Ripper” was
a fairly sloppy affair marked by poor leadership and Andy was one of the few
police officers to emerge from the case with any credit. He was also let down
by journalists who knew he was inexperienced in dealings with the press by
twisting his words. Knowing it would have enormous repercussions they didn’t
hide their source of their information and Andy was made to look silly.
Andy worked for the West
Yorkshire force from 1971 to 2001, working in CID for 23 years and on 60
murders. Following his retirement in 2001 he volunteered as a guide at Keighley
Police Museum and Bradford City Hall. He died of cancer aged 68 at a Marie
Curie hospice surrounded by his family. He left behind a wife, three daughters
and four grandchildren. The funeral was held at Bradford Cathedral and he was
cremated here at Nab Wood Crematorium. I went to do a salute at the chimney of
the box burner.