Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe dies in hospital aged 74

The Yorkshire Ripper serial killer has died in hospital, the UK prison service has confirmed.

Peter Sutcliffe had reportedly refused treatment at University Hospital of North Durham after being transferred there from maximum security Frankland prison, where he was an inmate.

Sutcliffe (74) had tested positive for Covid-19 and was suffering from underlying health conditions.

He was serving a whole life term for murdering 13 women across Yorkshire and the northwest of England between 1975 and 1980.

September 1979: Six of the young women murdered by Peter Sutcliffe, known as the Yorkshire Ripper. Top left to right; Vera Millward, Jayne MacDonald, Josephine Whittaker and bottom left to right; Jean Royle, Helga Rytka and Barbara Leach. Photo: Keystone/Getty Images

He was convicted in 1981 and, after a long spell in Broadmoor Hospital in Berkshire, he was transferred to Frankland prison in 2016 after being deemed stable enough to serve time in prison.

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.”

Sutcliffe had reportedly suffered from a range of conditions before his death including heart trouble, diabetes and obesity.