The ICMAP boys are back and straight into the action with a brand new season premiere (or episode 7, for the benefit of those with an appreciation for all things linear). This week, and would you believe it with the previous week’s global announcements of his passing, Tom and Ben make their way through back alleys, dark streets and the red light districts of ‘Ripper Country’ - taking a deep dive into the brutal case of Peter Sutcliffe, better known as The Yorkshire Ripper.  

It’s January 2nd, 1981 – the South Yorkshire City of Sheffield slowly comes to a close. Children are put to bed, workers are clocking out, friends, loved ones and even perfect strangers are toasting and cheering to the bright hopes of a New Year and all the potential it has to offer. As last orders are called, they spill out to the streets from within the pubs and clubs and wander off home without a care in the world. This is Sheffield, this is South Yorkshire, they don’t carry the worries of their neighbouring regions, they don’t fear the dreaded Yorkshire Ripper as they wander off into the night... Sergeant Robert Ring is on routine patrol with a colleague. He sees a woman in a car with a man and suspects a sex worker and client encounter. The sex worker tells Sergeant Ring that the man in her car is her boyfriend. Ring thinks he remembers her for prostitution offences. The man in the car says his name is Peter Williams. He adds that he’s desperate for the toilet. Ring allows him to go behind a nearby storage tank. The police meanwhile find the car’s license plates are false. And Peter admits that so is the name he has given. He says he’s really Peter Sutcliffe. He’s detained overnight. Police notice Sutcliffe’s physical similarity to the Ripper Profile. His blood test shows he’s blood group B, one of few the indisputable forensic details and relatively rare in the general population. Later that night, Sergeant Ring returns to the scene of the arrest where he finds that the individual didn’t empty his bladder behind the storage tank, but had instead emptied his pockets of a knife and ball-peen hammer...

So just how did Sutcliffe avoid detection/capture despite being interviewed by police nine times? What were his motivations behind his 5-year rampage? Why did a Polish Gravestone come under scrutiny? How many mistakes did the West Yorkshire Police make? And which system would you play - the ‘one M’ or the ‘three M’?

Tune in, and all will be revealed!

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