In 1981, Peter Sutcliffe, the "Yorkshire Ripper", was convicted of 13 murders and seven attempted murders. All his proven victims were women; most were prostitutes. There is a still-secret story of how Sutcliffe's terrible reign of terror claimed at least 22 more lives and left five other victims with terrible injuries. Police and prosecution authorities have long known that Sutcliffe's reign of terror was far longer and far more widespread than the public has been led to believe. But the evidence has been locked away in the files and archives. As a result, the families of at least 22 murdered women have been cheated of their right to know how and why their loved ones died. Worse still, police blunders and subsequent suppression of evidence ensured that three entirely innocent men were imprisoned for murders committed by the Yorkshire Ripper.

This book, by a former police intelligence officer, is the story not just of those long-cold killings, of the forgotten families, and of three terrible miscarriages of justice. It also uncovers Peter Sutcliffe's real motive for murder - and reveals how he manipulated police, prosecutors, and psychiatrists to ensure that he serves his sentence in the comfort of a psychiatric hospital rather than a prison cell.

Contains mature themes.