Yorkshire ripper Peter Sutcliffe is set to move out of Broadmoor psychiatric hospital and back into jail after a mental health tribunal ruled him sane enough to do so, sources said.
The serial killer (70) has spent 32 years inside the high-security institution in Berkshire after murdering 13 women and attempting to murder seven more between 1976 and 1981.
He has been there since 1984 after he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia after being jailed for life in 1981.
Sutcliffe, a former lorry driver from Bradford, now calls himself Peter Coonan. Most of his victims were prostitutes who were mutilated and beaten to death.
The decision of the tribunal has been referred to the Ministry of Justice, which still needs to confirm the move.
Sutcliffe was given 20 life terms for the murders and was caught when police found him with a prostitute in his car.
They became suspicious and found he had a fake licence plate and weapons including a screwdriver and hammer in the boot.
Before he was moved to Broadmoor, the killer spent three years at Parkhurst prison on the Isle of Wight.
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “Peter Coonan will remain locked up and will never be released for his evil crimes.
“Decisions over whether prisoners are to be sent back to prison from secure hospitals are based on clinical assessments made by independent medical staff.
"The High Court ordered in 2010 that Peter Coonan should never be released. This was upheld by the Court of Appeal.
“Our thoughts are with Coonan’s victims and their families.”