Child killer Colin Pitchfork and Alberto Costa MP (Image: Police handout/Parliament TV)
The prospect of convicted rapist and murderer Colin Pitchfork making a fresh application to be released on parole is “ludicrous”, the MP for the constituency in which he killed two teenage girls in the 1980s has said.
Alberto Costa is demanding that any fresh Parole Board hearing be held in public to enable people to hear the reasons why the 63-year-old is still considered to be a danger to women.
Pitchfork was jailed for life in 1988 after raping and strangling two 15-year-olds, Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth, in Leicestershire in 1983 and 1986, and was released in September 2021.
However, he was returned to jail two months later after breaching his licence conditions by approaching a lone woman while litter-picking.
Several twists in the case followed, with the Parole Board last June arguing that the decision to recall him to prison was flawed, and concluding that his detention was no longer necessary for public safety.
Lynda Mann was Pitchfork’s first victim, in 1983 (Image: Police handout)
READ MORE: ‘Child rapist and killer Colin Pitchfork’s freedom bid shouldn’t be allowed’ [LATEST]
Justice Secretary Alex Chalk – who is also the Lord Chancellor – then blocked that decision, and Pitchfork’s release, scheduled for December 2023, was denied after a judge agreed it was “irrational”.
However, the Parole Board this week granted Pitchfork’s appeal to consider his case yet again, meaning he will face another hearing with a different panel of Parole Board members.
Even if it denies his bid, Mr Costa, the Tory MP for South Leicestershire, told Express.co.uk that as things stand, there was in theory no limit to the number of times Pitchfork could lodge such appeals.
He told Express.co.uk: “Pitchfork is bizarrely arguing that it would be irrational not to release him. Let us remember that Pitchfork brutally raped and strangled to death two young women, Dawn Ashworth and Lynda Mann. He also exposed himself, as revealed in his court trial, to hundreds of women.
“This man was only caught because of advances in DNA fingerprinting techniques. He remains a danger to the public and as we read in the parole board’s decision in December last year not to release him, the grounds upon which that decision was based were that Pitchfork was unable to demonstrate that his attitude towards women was different.”
Dawn Ashworth was killed by Pitchfork in 1986 (Image: Police handout)
In other words, the Parole Board remained unconvinced, given Pitchfork’s “continuing, worrying attitude towards women”, Mr Costa pointed out.
He added: “The idea therefore, that Pitchfork is now claiming that it is irrational not to release him is ludicrous.
“That is why I am applying to the Parole Board urgently, requesting that the new Parole Board hearing be conducted in public so that all of us can hear the evidence as to why Pitchfork remains a danger and why the only place he should be released into is a maximum security prison.
“I will also be issuing a survey to tens of thousands of people across my constituency where the murders took place this week and will raise the matter once again in the House of Commons.”
Speaking to the Daily Express today, Justice Secretary Alex Chalk confirmed he was seeking an urgent meeting with the Parole Board to discuss the situation.
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Justice Secretary Alex Chalk (Image: Getty)
As a result of changes to guidelines, were Pitchfork to be sentenced today it was “overwhelmingly likely” that he would never be released, Mr Chalk stressed.
He added: “All this business about Parole hearings would simply not happen. We are concerned because it must be putting the families through torture. That is why I am arranging to meet the Parole Board urgently.”
Mr Chalk further believes that “for the most dangerous offenders, the Parole Board should have no role at all”.
He had initially persuaded a work colleague to provide a DNA sample pretending to be him and was subsequently suspected of trying to cheat lie detector tests, according to parole papers.
Documents said he was subjected to polygraph tests in 2021 and “it was believed that Mr Pitchfork was deliberately seeking to undermine the testing process by controlling his breathing”.
Child killer Colin Pitchfork cleared for release in July
Parole Board decisions on whether to release criminals from prison are initially provisional.
Rules stipulate that the prisoner and the Justice Secretary – on behalf of victims, their families and the public – have 21 days to appeal against a ruling on the grounds it is irrational, procedurally unfair and/or there had been an error of law.
The Parole Board reviews the application, decides whether it is eligible for reconsideration and, if so, orders a fresh hearing to determine the case again.
In a statement, the Parole Board said: “Mr Pitchfork made an application for reconsideration in December 2023 and this was considered and granted by a reconsideration member of the Parole Board in February 2024.”
In advance of a “complete re-hearing” to take place in due course, “Pitchfork has, and will continue to, remain in prison until this case”, the statement added.
Pitchfork, then aged 27, became the first man in the UK to be convicted using DNA fingerprinting evidence.
