A forensic psychiatrist who worked with violent criminals at Broadmoor has recounted his encounter with the Yorkshire Ripper and revealed that the killer often “struggles with being hated”.
Gwen Adshead, 63, from Crowthorne, Berkshire, has spent 30 years working in hospitals alongside dangerous inmates such as Peter Sutcliffe, yet the psychiatrist said she “just saw a middle-aged man” who said he “didn’t there was nothing to see.”
Elsewhere she stated that she does not judge the killers she works with because she believes that even she could probably have the capacity to kill, “given the right circumstances.”
speaking to LADbible The TV psychiatrist told what it’s like to work with killers and gave an insight into their minds.
Recounting her encounter with Sutcliffe, who was convicted of murdering 13 women and attempting to murder seven others between 1975 and 1980, she said: “A really important aspect of forensic psychiatry is that when you work with people who have done terrible things, they already You know, it’s not necessarily on his face or his body.
Gwen Adshead, 63, from Crowthorne, Berkshire, who worked with violent criminals in Broadmoor, recounted her encounter with the Yorkshire Ripper and revealed that murder often “struggles with being hated”.
‘There’s nothing to see. You really have to spend a lot of time talking to people before you can get into the states of mind that lead to causing great cruelty and harm to others.’
Meanwhile, he revealed that murderers who dismember the bodies of their victims often simply find “a practical solution to a problem” when trying to dispose of a body.
She said: ‘Cutting up a body seems absolutely horrible and monstrous. But people I’ve met who have cut up a body have said it was a practical solution to the problem. Getting rid of a body is very difficult. The corpses are extremely heavy.
“People who do that are usually in a slightly strange state of mind when they do it. They’re a little dissociated from reality. It’s like it’s a horrible dream. That’s what some people say.
Elsewhere, the psychiatrist said murderers often “fight hatred” for their crimes, as they sometimes see themselves as “soldiers.”
He said people often talk about “what it means to have killed someone” and said murderers often worry about “whether they are different than soldiers.”
“It’s not that people see themselves as victims, they don’t, but sometimes they struggle with the feeling of being hated.”
Speaking to Ladbible TV, the psychiatrist told what it’s like to work with murderers and gave an insight into their minds.
Gwen said that when she met dangerous inmates like Peter Sutcliffe (pictured), she “just saw a middle-aged man” who said there was “nothing to see.”
When asked how many details convicted murderers tell him about the crimes they have committed, he said, “Not many.”
For her, it is “quite distressing” that people who have killed “talk about it.”
“People often don’t realize that people who kill sometimes develop PTSD in relation to the homicide they actually caused.
“They have traumatic memories, memories of the blood that was present, of the smell of blood.
‘They may have memories of the sound the victim made. They may have memories of what they did next and how they felt.’
He explained that “it is not at all unusual for people who kill to have nightmares.”
Gwen described her job as something like operating on the minds of assassins, as she had to be extremely careful.
She said, “You can’t just run in and say, ‘Okay, let’s talk about that day you killed someone.’ you have to be careful with these things and you have to use language very carefully.’
Gwen revealed that she never felt “scared” for her own safety at Broadmoor, but had previously been “assaulted in the community.”
Gwen revealed that she never felt “scared” for her own safety at Broadmoor, but had previously been “assaulted in the community.”
She said: ‘I mean, the most unsafe place is the community. In fact, almost all the places where I have been attacked have been outpatient clinics.
‘People who have been in very disturbed states of mind, often because they were intoxicated, came to a clinic and became very angry with me for some reason and attacked me.
The Yorkshire Ripper died of coronavirus in prison in 2020.
The frail serial killer, who murdered at least 13 women in the 1970s and 1980s, died at North Durham University Hospital after his lungs failed overnight. He had no bedside visitors due to Covid rules.
Sutcliffe had written regular letters to a pen pal during the pandemic and just months before his death had boasted that he felt “much safer” in prison than in the outside world, MailOnline can reveal.
Mentioning the “horrible global pandemic,” he told the correspondent, who asked to remain anonymous: “The world is stuck with this Covid.” It makes me feel a lot safer being here with everything that’s going on in the world.’
He had regularly described his fears of contracting coronavirus in the months before his positive test. She first mentioned it on March 16, writing: “Be careful with this horrible virus.”
He also declined visitors due to his fears about the virus, writing on May 10, “Visitors will resume, but I won’t bother with them under the current circumstances.” I prefer to wait until they discover an effective vaccine.’
In July 2020, Sutcliffe said he was “fed up with lockdown” and complained that a prisoner friend could not make him a full English breakfast, before mentioning on August 4 that he had taken a Covid test which came back negative.
In his final recorded words, he wrote: “The lockdown still hasn’t changed here and with all the new spikes happening outside these walls, there won’t be any changes until the new year.” Health-wise, we are both doing well and leading our lives as best we can.’
The Ripper had previously signed “do not resuscitate forms”, while his friends said he surprisingly believed he would “go to heaven” after his death because he had become a Jehovah’s Witness.
The families of his victims celebrated his death today and said the serial killer “will rot in hell.”
Marcella Claxton, who needed more than 50 stitches after taking a hammer to the head, told MailOnline: “I’m glad he’s gone.” I have thought about what she did to me every day since then and although the news of her death brings back those horrible memories, at least now I can get closure.
“I hope it brings me some peace knowing that he is no longer with us.”
Neil Jackson, whose mother Emily was murdered by Sutcliffe after he hit her 52 times with a hammer, learned of her death in a phone call from his son today.
He said: “My first thought was ‘thank God for that’.” “It’s a great relief.”