YORKSHIRE Ripper Peter Sutcliffe has said he should be freed from prison.

The mass murderer - who struck twice in Huddersfield - has made his plea to the Home Office, it was reported today.

Sutcliffe, who is serving life for the brutal murders of 13 women, has broken a 24-year silence in a written statement to the Home Office, say newspapers.

The news comes days after outrage was provoked when it emerged that Sutcliffe was allowed to leave prison to visit the coastal town of Arnside, Cumbria, where his father's ashes were scattered.

Sutcliffe has allegedly made a case for his release by saying he deserves freedom, because he is not being treated for mental illness and has not committed a crime for 25 years.

The statement Sutcliffe allegedly wrote to the Home Office reads: "The courts convicted me and now the courts will protect my human rights under Article Eight.

"I am no longer an insane or dangerous person and I am not receiving treatment for any form of mental illness and I have not committed any criminal offence in over 25 years."

It was also reported that Sutcliffe wrote a longer statement, talking of his plans to get married, but Broadmoor prison staff censored the letter.

This statement reads: "I hope to be getting married on or before May 12, 2005. I am looking forward to the wedding date.

"Since my conviction, never before have I took such a step, but I do so to end further speculation into my life.

"My hope is that my stay at Broadmoor will be reviewed and that they will look favourably on my hopes for my future.

"And I look forward to the day when my wife and I are allowed to live as one under the same roof in matrimonial harmony."

In May, 1981, Sutcliffe was jailed for life at the Old Bailey for murdering 13 women and leaving seven others for dead in a killing spree which terrified the entire country.

He killed 18-year-old Huddersfield girl Helen Rytka in Hillhouse and also tried to murder Theresa Sykes, who was 16, at Reinwood, Oakes.

Sutcliffe told his trial that he had heard "voices from God" telling him to go on a mission to rid the streets of prostitutes.

The jury decided the Yorkshire Ripper was not insane, but a sadistic murderer.

He was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Sutcliffe is reportedly engaged to a grandmother from Leeds called Pam.

The Home Office said it could not comment on individual cases.