Just a Boy

One October night in 1975 Richard, aged five, was alone in the house with his three sisters. It was 3am and their mother hadn’t come home yet. The next morning, the police arrived to take the children away. Their mother had become the first victim of a serial killer soon to become known as the ‘Yorkshire Ripper’. Passed from one violent home to another, the children were forgotten by all except the press. As the salacious headlines multiplied, Richard and his sisters were never able to recover from their mother’s murder. Without love or support, they spiralled away from help or happiness. Then one day Richard, having reached suicidal rock bottom, decided no one was going to rescue their lives but him. It was the beginning of an inspirational transformation. Now he is able to tell the story of how the forgotten children of violence suffer, and how they can heal.