Child killer Colin Pitchfork's latest freedom bid could see Christmas release

Notorious child killer Colin Pitchfork could be back on the streets by Christmas, the Mirror can reveal.

He will tell a Parole Board panel of experts that he is no longer a risk to the public in October. Pitchfork, 64, could be freed within a matter of weeks, depending on the panel’s verdict. He was jailed for life in 1988 after rapingand strangling 15-year-olds Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth in Leicestershire in 1983 and 1986.

After being released and then recalled in 2021, he was again granted parole in June, but this decision was challenged by ministers.The latest hearing has been delayed from last year and is for a date yet to be determined in October. Pitchfork lost a High Court bid to challenge Parole Board decisions over an allegation that he "sexually assaulted another prisoner".

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Barbara Ashworth, 79, mum of his victim Dawn said today that she couldn't bear to attend the killer's latest bid for freedom. She told the Mirror: "I've always attended parole hearings but I can't do it this time. I've spent too long getting angry about Pitchfork. I can't keep living with it. It was Dawn's birthday at the end of June and it's nearly the anniversary of her death on July 31. I can't tell you how difficult it is to deal with. But I'll say what I always say: he should die in prison, they need to throw away the key. He's a danger to the public, he always will be."

At the latest High Courthearing on the case, Mr Justice Chamberlain said the allegations concerned a claim that Pitchfork "sexually assaulted another prisoner by putting his hand on the complainant's upper thigh through clothing". A parole hearing was due in 2024 but it was postponed after Pitchfork launched a legal challenge over the extent of material he had been allowed to see following the sexual assault allegation, which first came to light in July 2024.

Pitchfork sought to challenge two decisions barring him from seeing police body-worn footage of an interview with the alleged victim. Mr Justice Chamberlain ruled that he did not have an "arguable" case. He also rejected a bid by the killer's barristers for the hearing to be held in private.

The judge said: "There is simply no arguable basis at this stage for the contention that the claimant's rights have been infringed." The next hearing concerning Pitchfork's potential release will be the third since 2021, and the judge ruled that the Parole Board's decisions "cannot at this stage be shown to be unlawful".

Pitchfork was allowed to see a redacted transcript of the footage and a police report, rather than being granted access to the interview with his accuser. Paul Harris, representing Pitchfork, claimed his client would be placed at a "critical disadvantage in relation to a serious matter".

He said Pitchfork "did terrible things very many years ago" but has made "exceptional progress in prison" and "has had no adverse reports about him in prison for 20 years". Iain Steele, representing the Parole Board, said Pitchfork's lawyers could see the footage if they gave assurances they would not disclose the footage to him, which they chose not to give.

Mr Steele said Pitchfork would "be entitled to test any evidence" at the upcoming hearing concerning whether he should be released. Pitchfork was 27 when he became the first man to be convicted in the UK using DNA profiling and was handed a minimum jail term of 30 years, later reduced to 28 years.

After his release and recall, the Parole Board found, in June 2023, that the decision to recall him to prison was flawed and that his detention was no longer necessary for public safety.

However, the ruling was blocked by then-justice secretary Alex Chalk who called for the decision to release Pitchfork to be reviewed, keeping him behind bars.

Pitchfork was granted another hearing to consider his release, which was scheduled for July 2024 but was then postponed following the sexual assault allegation.

The latest hearing, due to take place in private, is expected to last three days.