Chris Wilkinson, School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science

The Yorkshire Ripper Murders: The Failures of the West Yorkshire Police Force

This presentation will outline my research into the failures of the West Yorkshire police force in investigating the Yorkshire Ripper. It will discuss key failures which undermined the investigation including the catastrophic organisation of the main incident room and the failures of the police to correctly distinguish between hoaxes and actual evidence. However, the main portion of my presentation will be focused on analysing the impact of police attitudes towards women and especially prostitutes on the investigation and examining what has changed, if anything, as a result of the investigation.

BA History & Philosophy, Second Year (he/him)
My name is Chris Wilkinson. I am a second year history and philosophy student. I am interested in any and all forms of history and philosophy but I particularly enjoy studying challenging and controversial topics such as metaphysics, crime and race. I enjoyed my research into the Ripper murders and I hope that my presentation will be as enjoyable.