Release of Colin Pitchfork to be challenged by Lord Chancellor as double child killer makes freedom bid after 33 years
THE Lord Chancellor is set to challenge the release of double child killer Colin Pitchfork, reports claim.
Robert Buckland is likely to question the Parole Board’s ruling that sees Pitchfork being released after 33 years.
Twisted killer Pitchfork, 61, raped and murdered two 15-year-olds, Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth, in the 1980s in Leicestershire.
He was caged for life in 1988 and was denied parole in 2018 but the Parole Board deemed earlier this month that the 61-year-old was no longer a danger to the public.
Dawn’s mother, Barbara Ashworth, 75, who lives in Cornwall, told the Times she would fully support intervention by Buckland.
She said: “My world has been shattered by this man. He can’t hurt me any
more than he has already by killing my daughter, but there will be other 15-year-old girls in the streets.
“If he was released, he could search for any victim he wanted to. He is a psychopath who should be kept in prison where he belongs.
“I would fully support Robert Buckland in trying to stop him from being released, absolutely.”
The outlet reports that senior government sources claimed that Buckland had only “narrow” powers to challenge the decision, but he saw no harm in challenging it.
He is expected to wait until the last moment he can challenge the decision which would be next Monday, 21 days after the parole hearing.
It comes as earlier this week, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said he backs Pitchfork’s release.
Sir Keir told LBC: “He has served a long sentence and he served the sentence imposed on him by the court, and under our system, that means there comes a point at which he has to be released.
“That doesn’t make it easier for you, it doesn’t make it any easier for the families.
“There’s a great tendency politicians are leaping on a particular case.
“Actually if we think the system is wrong or sentences are wrong in general we should change the law on sentencing and look at whether it should be longer sentences in some of these cases.”
Pitchfork was the first person in the world to be arrested and convicted using DNA evidence.
Most read in News
After applying for parole in 2017, their killer was pictured preparing for life on the outside — and was even spotted shopping in Bristol on day release.
Kath Eastwood, the mother of one of his victims, Lynda Mann, said he should never be freed as he would always be a danger to the public.
Kath added: “He shouldn’t even be breathing and should, at least, be locked up forever.’’