Last month, Matthew was hired to deal with outside contractors at Carstairs, home to many of Scotland's most dangerous mental patients, and to supervise the workers while they were inside the Lanarkshire hospital.

Marie began writing to Sutcliffe when he was a prisoner at Parkhurst on the Isle of Wight. She said: "After he was arrested I felt asort of affinity with him.

"I said I would be delighted to go to see him. I was told there was no way I could get into the prison but when he was transferred to Broadmoor it made it easier.

And she admitted that his then wife, Sonia, was concerned about their friendship. She said: "She does feel it is going too far in respect of how we have been writing to each other."

She showed off a card from Sutcliffe, with the message: "To my dearest Coco ... with all my love and best wishes. Your good health always, Peter."There were three kisses under the signature.

"He is sorry about what he did and he has admitted this to me. "I don't feel sorry for Peter. He is paying the price for his terrible crimes and rightly so."

"If you want to know the whole truth about me and my life, you will need to show me a cheque. Put it through my door, otherwise just go and print your story.

A Carstairs spokesman refused to comment on Matthew's situation. He said: "Due to our obligations under data protection law we are unable to provide any information."

The hospital describes its task as looking after "individuals with mental disorder who, because of their dangerous, violent or criminal propensities, cannot be cared for in any other setting".

High-profile Carstairs patients have included Owen Bonner, 39, who was sent there in 1994 after holding two woman workers at a chicken processing plant hostage. He threatened the pair, forced them to pray, slashed them and declared himself "worse than the Devil".

Monster Sutcliffe was driven to kill by his hatred of prostitutes. But aswell as murdering women who worked on the streets, he targeted ordinary girls who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Sutcliffe was eventually arrested, convicted of murder despite his claims of insanity, and jailed for 30 years. He was later diagnosed as schizophrenic and moved to Broadmoor.

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