‘Peter Sutcliffe killed my mother but I now forgive him’, says son of murdered Wilma McCann

‘Peter Sutcliffe killed my mother but I now forgive him’, says son of murdered Wilma McCannGood Morning Britain, ITV

Transcript

00:00 Peter Sutcliffe was an utterly depraved human being.

00:03 And you would be fully entitled to hate his soul.

00:09 Do you? Did you?

00:10 I did. Me and Sonia plotted revenge.

00:13 You know, she was going to write to him and befriend him and then go visit him and kill him.

00:17 That was how we thought all those years ago.

00:21 But I've been on a bit of a journey for the last 48 years.

00:24 And I let go of the anger and the need for revenge in 2010 when I met Desmond Tutu,

00:31 who spoke about forgiveness.

00:32 And I decided to let go of that and forgive him.

00:35 You forgave him?

00:36 Forgave him.

00:37 On what basis?

00:39 Desmond Tutu's words were,

00:42 "You can't force a person to forgive another, but when it occurs,

00:45 it can change a situation."

00:47 I thought, I can't change my mum's death.

00:49 I can't bring her back, but I can change how it impacts on me.

00:52 And I let it go. I didn't become his friend, incidentally.

00:54 Of course.

00:54 I used to think forgiveness was for the other person.

00:56 It's not. Forgiveness is for you to let go of the anger and need for revenge.