The charge of attempted wounding with intent follows an alleged attack on the serial murderer with a cutlery knife by a fellow inmate at the secure mental hospital in Crowthorne, Berkshire, in December.

A spokeswoman for Thames Valley Police said Patrick Sureda, 42, was charged on February 28 but news of the charges was only revealed today.

Sutcliffe, from Bradford in Yorkshire, who has changed his name to Peter Coonan, was given 20 life sentences for murdering 13 women and trying to kill seven more across Yorkshire and in Manchester.

But the 61-year-old has hired a top legal team to use human rights legislation to determine when he might be released.

London-based solicitor Saimo Chahal and barrister Paul Bowen are expected to seek his freedom by 2011 by arguing the Home Office breached his human rights by not setting a minimum tariff on sentencing

Sutcliffe began his sentence in prison but three years later was diagnosed with schizophrenia and transferred to Broadmoor Hospital.

Ms Chahal, who specialises in civil liberties and social welfare as a partner at London-based Bindmans & Partners, aims to get Sutcliffe back into the prison system and has requested a reassessment of his psychiatric condition.