25 Feb 2009
It is a unique and amazing picture... for the man in the gaudy tracksuit is Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe.
He was introduced to Bruno in Broadmoor by cigar-chomping TV star Sir Jimmy Savile, who became friends with the mass murderer while doing voluntary work at the top-security hospital.
The photo is the only informal snap of Sutcliffe taken since he was locked up in 1981. It shows him relaxed and smiling as he grabs Bruno's giant fist.
The encounter happened when Bruno opened a new gym at Broadmoor as a favour for a pal.
He met gangland villain Ronnie Kray, a boxing fan, on Henley Ward, where the most dangerous and notorious patients were housed. Then Sir Jimmy introduced him to Sutcliffe. A Broadmoor source said:
After chatting to Ronnie, Big Frank spotted the Yorkshire Ripper leaning back on a window ledge.
He went over and was introduced. They shook hands and Peter said he was a big fan. Frank asked Peter if he would be using the new gym and fitness machines and joked that he could lose a few pounds.
But Peter said he had never been a fitness fan and they both had a bit of a laugh.
Frank asked Peter what it was like in Broadmoor and he said he had no
complaints. When they finished chatting Frank shook his hand and wished Peter
all the best with his treatment.
The source added: "Looking at Peter in this picture, it shows exactly how he is. He is a nice guy with a good nature. He is easy to chat to and could be the bloke standing next to you in the pub.
"You would have no idea what his evil past is — and that is perhaps the most chilling thing about him."
The meeting took place in 1991 during Bruno's yo-yo ring career.
He had recently been beaten by Tim Witherspoon and Mike Tyson but went on to take the WBC world heavyweight title in 1995.
Bruno, now 47, later had to battle his own mental health problems, fuelled by cocaine abuse. He recovered and lives in Bedfordshire with a son.
The source said: "It was just incredible seeing Big Frank shaking the Yorkshire Ripper's hand. There are probably more than a few people out there who would rather they met in the ring.
"Obviously Frank knew what Peter had done to those women. He was there to do a job and acted very politely. But when he turned round he raised his eyebrows as if to say, 'My God, that was the Yorkshire Ripper'."
Bradford lorry driver Sutcliffe butchered 13 women — mainly prostitutes — using a ball pein hammer, a sharpened screwdriver and a knife.
The Sun revealed last week that the 62-year-old fiend is now considered low risk by Broadmoor's doctors, who have recommended that he be moved to a medium-secure unit.
He could then begin a rehabilitation process by being let out on the streets for shopping trips.
Sutcliffe's lawyers are trying to have him declared sane and are seeking a definite date for his total freedom.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2270180.ece