Carol Wilkinson was viciously attacked whilst walking to work

On Monday 10th, October 1977, the morning after Peter Sutcliffe had returned to Jean Jordan's body to search for his brand-new £5 note, twenty-year-old Carol Wilkinson was on her way to work in Almond's Bakery in Bradford. Carol had worked as clerk in the wholesale department at Almond's Bakery since 1974.

Carol had lived on Bradford's Ravenscliffe council estate for most of her life. Ravenscliffe was less than five miles from Sutcliffe's home in Garden Lane, Heaton; it was even closer to the premises of T. & W.H. Clark, where Peter Sutcliffe was employed.

On this particular Monday there was a bus strike - meaning Carol had to walk to work. Carol took a shortcut across a field off Woodhall Road which led to a lonely lane.

Just before 10am, a man taking the same shortcut found Carol's body lying face down in a pool of blood. She had suffered head injuries, her trousers and panties had been pulled down, and her bra had been lifted up.

Carol Wilkinson had sustained multiple skull fractures and brain damage in the attack. Surgeons did their best, but Carol's life-support machine was turned off after two days.

Detective Superintendent Jim Hobson, the officer who had taken charge of the Tracy Browne, Irene Richardson and Jayne MacDonald investigations was assigned the Carol Wilkinson inquiry.

Despite the similarities between these attacks and the murder of Carol, a decision was taken to exclude Carol Wilkinson's death from the growing list of Ripper victims. Detectives followed their theory that the Yorkshire Ripper only targeted prostitutes.

Witnesses would later detail that Peter Sutcliffe had previously had a 'violent' argument with Carol's stepfather, George. A year before Carol's murder Sutcliffe had been performing odd jobs on the Ravenscliffe estate. George Wilkinson had allegedly threatened to assault Sutcliffe for trying to pick up Carol.