§ 32. Mr. Alexander W. Lyonasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why he refuses to transfer Peter Sutcliffe to a secure mental hospital.
§ Mr. MayhewSection 72 of the Mental Health Act 1959 requires my right hon. Friend, before he may direct the removal of a prisoner to a hospital, to be satisfied that the prisoner is mentally disordered to a degree warranting his detention in a hospital for medical treatment and that, having regard to the public interest and all the circumstances, his removal would be expedient.
My right hon. Friend has given very careful consideration to medical reports, matters brought out at Sutcliffe's trial and appeal, the offences of which he was convicted, his present circumstances in prison, and his likely future if removed to a hospital. My right hon. Friend has concluded that it is not in the public interest to direct his removal at present.
My right hon. Friend has however, given instructions that Sutcliffe's mental condition and his progress in prison should be kept under careful review, and he will look again at the question of removing him to a hospital if there is any significant change of circumstances.