Police station where Yorkshire Ripper was first held to be demolished
A POLICE station which played a part in two of the biggest news events of the late 20th century will be demolished next week.
Police station the Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe was first held is to be demolished
Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe was taken to Sheffield's Hammerton Road police station after he was arrested in the city in January 1981.
Eight years later, the station was a focus for the much-criticised operation to help distraught families following the Hillsborough disaster at Sheffield Wednesday's nearby stadium.
The building, which is tucked away in a back street in the Hillsborough district, will be demolished in an operation starting on Monday.
It was closed for policing operations in 2014.
Sheffield's Hammerton Road police station was where Sutcliffe went when he was arrested in 1981
Chief Superintendent David Hartley said: "Hammerton Road was a fantastic servant to the force but the ageing building had become outdated, inefficient to run and no longer fit for purpose when it closed nearly two years ago.
The ageing building had become outdated, inefficient to run and no longer fit for purpose
"It needs to be demolished for safety reasons and we now have the necessary clearance to move ahead with this work.
"Discussions continue to take place about the future use of the Hammerton Road site but key to this process is the forthcoming review of the force's operating model."
Sutcliffe was arrested in January 1981 when officers spotted stolen number plates on his car in the Broomhill area of Sheffield.
He was taken to Hammerton Road police station, where he managed to hide a knife in a lavatory cistern before he was transferred to West Yorkshire.
Bernard Hogan-Howe used Hammerton Road as a base to tackle the Hillsborough tragedy
Peter Sutcliffe recounts 'hearing God' in eerie recording
After the tragedy at Hillsborough stadium in April 1989, Hammerton Road became the centre for the police operation to try to collate missing persons reports.
Then chief inspector Norman Bettison, who later became the chief constable of the Merseyside and West Yorkshire forces, was based at the station - although he originally went to the match as a spectator.
Concerned families were accommodated at a boys' club round the corner from the station, where the police operation was led by then inspector Bernard Hogan-Howe - now the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police.