Sonia Sutcliffe sues magazine

Press, 18 May 1989, Page 8

Sonia Sutcliffe sues magazine

NZPA-PA London Sonia Sutcliffe, the estranged wife of the Yorkshire Ripper, yesterday told a High Court libel jury how her life had been shattered by the discovery that her husband was a mass murderer. She is suing the publisher of “Private Eye” over two articles it printed. Speaking in a barely audible whisper, Mrs Sutcliffe, aged 38, of Bradford, recalled the day in January, 1981, when she went to Dewsbury police station, where her husband was being held. "He was brought into the room. I learned from him that my husband was responsible for the murders.

“I stayed at the police station until the next day. I was in a state of shock. I

was stunned. I was stupefied. I could not believe what I had heard,” she told Mr Justice Michael Davies and the jury. Glancing continually from the jury to her feet, Mrs Sutcliffe said the "Daily Express" had offered her £BO,OOO ($NZ218,000) for her exclusive story and similar amounts had been offered by other, national newspapers, but she had turned them down. "The figure didn’t mean anything to me. My circumstances were such that money was the last thing on my mind. My life had been shattered." Mrs Sutcliffe is suing Pressdram, publisher of “Private Eye” for damages over two articles which allege she signed a £250,000 ($NZ681,700) deal with the "Daily Mail” for her story.