Bingley man believes his grandfather was the Yorkshire Ripper's first victim
Fred Craven was killed in 1966
Last updated 4th Mar 2021
A man from Bingley is calling for the case of his grandfather's murder in 1966 to be reviewed, as he believes he was the Yorkshire Ripper's first victim.
Fred Craven was killed at his bookmakers shop in Bingley on April 22nd 1966.
His family says he was killed in the same way as 13 of Peter Sutcliffe's victims.
However, 50 years later, no one has ever been convicted.
Lee Craven, his grandson said:
"Sutcliffe liked to portray himself as a victim, driven by a hatred for women, a hatred of prostitutes, I think this is all nonsense, I think he just attacked anyone who he thought was vulnerable.
"When Peter Sutcliffe was arrested, my father rang George Oldfield, who was head of the Ripper investigation, and ask could Sutcliffe be involved, George said he may well be.
"One of the police officers, after Sutcliffe was arrested and charged, wanted to re-open my grandfather's case, but he was told by his seniors that Sutcliffe only attacked women, an assumption that I think is wrong and helped throw the investigation.
"It was a missed opportunity, the establishment as a whole was embarrassed at the failure to catch him before he committed such carnage, and I think they just wanted to close it all down."
He continued:
"It would be very good if police could review the cases, and say this is where we got, this is our conclusions, we will never be able to prove it, but we want to give you some sort of closure."
West Yorkshire Police said they continue to review and where possible reinvestigate all unresolved homicides and serious crimes to bring offenders to justice and to bring much needed closure to the victims and their families.
Should any new lines of investigation regarding any potential suspects be identified during cold case reviews, they will be pursued and forensic opportunities explored.
A new documentary will air on Channel 5 at 9pm tonight (4th March) called 'The Yorkshire Ripper's New Victims', which will discuss myths around the killings.