Memorial plaque tribute to final victim of Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe

A plaque to Jacqueline Hill, the final known victim of serial killer Peter Sutcliffe, has been installed near to where her body was found.

Student Jacqueline Hill was killed by Sutcliffe on November 17, 1980.

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After a seminar, she caught a bus from Cookridge Street at 9pm back to her student halls in Headingley.

The plaque to Jacqueline Hill.The plaque to Jacqueline Hill.
The plaque to Jacqueline Hill.
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She got off at a stop on Otley Road approximately 23 minutes later.

She turned up Alma Road to walk the 100 yards to her residence when Sutcliffe began to follow her.

He attacked and killed her.

Her body was found on wasteland near the Arndale Centre the following day.

The tribute to Jacqueline Hill.The tribute to Jacqueline Hill.
The tribute to Jacqueline Hill.

Members of the Leeds Spinners laid the plaque, which read: "Sister, daughter, housemate, friend, fiance, gentle and caring person, lovely kind girl, endearingly silly sense of humour, funny, clever, English student, Sunday School teacher, probation service volunteer, brought only goodness to the world, she was everything people wanted their daughter to be. Silver Girl."

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Sutcliffe, who was serving a life term for murdering 13 women across Yorkshire and the North West between 1975 and 1980, died yesterday (Friday).

Leeds Spinners member Claire Jones came to Leeds as a student, and remembered her shock at realising she was living so close to the site where Jacqueline Hill’s body was discovered.

She said: “It was so sad. Back then, it was a small, sad, neglected patch of waste ground.

"Every woman that was a teenager or older, during the years Sutcliffe was perpetrating his crimes, felt the impact.

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"Many women in this area have their own stories about this time.

"We should recognise the loss of these women, to their families and friends, but to the wider community, too.”

'Years of missed opportunities by police'

Sutcliffe avoided detection for years due to a series of missed opportunities by the police.

He eventually confessed in 1981 after he was caught in Sheffield.

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Despite his 24-hour-long confession to the killings, Sutcliffe denied the murders when he appeared in court.

In May 1981, he was jailed for 20 life terms at the Old Bailey, with the judge recommending a minimum sentence of 30 years.

More than two decades later, a secret report disclosed that Sutcliffe probably committed more crimes than the 13 murders and seven attempted murders for which he was convicted.

He died aged 74 in hospital after testing positive for Covid-19 on Friday, November 13.

A Prison Service spokesman said: “HMP Frankland prisoner Peter Coonan (born Sutcliffe) died in hospital on November 13. The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman has been informed.”