Double child killer Colin Pitchfork could be back on the streets within weeks. The 65-year-old’s Parole Board hearing will take place behind closed doors next month, officials have disclosed.
He made history as the first murderer to be convicted in the UK using DNA profiling. Officials will spend two days poring over papers relating to the killer’s crimes and his conduct in prison. Pitchfork, who was jailed in the 1988 for raping and murdering 15-year-olds Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth in Leicestershire, was due to have a parole hearing in November last year. But it was delayed after he demanded a review over “ongoing fresh allegations” about his behaviour in prison, and the extent of new material in the case that he had been permitted to see.
A spokesman for the Parole Board confirmed the hearing will now take place on 15 and 16 of May. Parole Board decisions usually take around a month to be published and inmates who win their freedom are freed within weeks of a successful bid. Pitchfork was jailed for life in 1988 for killing both girls in 1983 and 1986. He was handed a minimum term of 30 years, later reduced to 28.
Pitchfork was granted parole in September 2021 but was back behind bars two months later after breaching his licence conditions when he approached a lone woman while litter-picking.
Barbara Ashworth, 79, mum of Dawn, 15, murdered by Pitchfork in 1986, told the Mirror: “It’s unfathomable that he is being considered for release. He should never walk free, he killed two schoolgirls. They should lock him up and throw away the key, it’s insane.”
She added: “It’s been nearly 40 years but I think about the day Dawn died every single day. She was working at a newsagent during the school holidays and she had bought a little tub of smarties for her friend down the road. She went out to give it to her but they weren’t at home, so she started walking back. But she never made it home. It breaks my heart.”
Rebecca Eastwood, sister of Lynda Mann, has always opposed his bids for parole. He had spent 33 years behind bars before he was recalled for the breach four years ago. .He was granted parole again in 2023, but after the intervention of the Lord Chancellor, the Parole Board reversed its decision.
This time the hearing is to be held behind closed doors, despite concerns expressed by South Leicestershire MP Alberto Costa. He has highlighted the Colin Pitchfork case in Parliament. When asked on LBC radio station about the case while leader of the opposition in 2023, Sir Keir Starmer said: “I don’t think he should be recommended for release.”
A fact-finding hearing took place in relation to an allegation of sexual assault against Pitchfork which is said to have occurred during his time in prison. The families of both victims maintain Pitchfork will always be a danger to the public and should never be released.
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