Judge rules that Peter Sutcliffe will do a life term, is that justice?
No one was expecting his release, least of all Mr Sutcliffe. Although the trial judge had set a minimum term of at least 30 years before parole was even considered, no final tariff had been set as is now required. In those days it was the Home Secretary who set the tariff but these days it has to be a judge. What Mr Sutcliffe was doing was having his position regularised in accordance with current practice. He now KNOWS that he will die in jail, rather than suspect. It was never going to be the case that he would be released, but he needed to know.
