Colin Pitchfork was jailed for life for raping and strangling Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth
By Matt Taylor & Jo Hollis
BBC News, Leicester
The uncle of a girl raped and murdered by Colin Pitchfork says he is “never free from the pain he has caused”.
Pitchfork was jailed for life for raping and strangling two 15-year-old girls, Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth, in Leicestershire in 1983 and 1986.
The Parole Board denied his release in December but Pitchfork has successfully applied for that to be reconsidered.
Dawn’s uncle Philip Musson asked what guarantee of safety could be given to the public if he was released.
The Parole Board said it had set out its reasoning for the reconsideration decision and had no further comment to make.
Pitchfork was jailed for his offences in 1988
Mr Musson said “certain procedures” had not been followed properly with the management of Pitchfork, which was “presenting him with grounds to challenge his continued detention”.
An example of this was “his prisoner offender manager’s views had allegedly not been taken into account”, Mr Musson said.
He added: “The recent performance of the Parole Board does not inspire me with confidence. There have, in fact, been a catalogue of errors.
“He was released in 2021 but recalled to prison after a couple of months following concerns about his behaviour. This casts doubt on the appropriateness of the decision to grant parole.
“However, the Parole Board have since deemed his recall inappropriate in that a condition of it – requesting he undertake a polygraph test, which he was thought to have manipulated – was unlawful.”
“In my view, there are some crimes that are so horrendous that release from prison is not appropriate, these are two such crimes. There is no parole for Linda or Dawn, no opportunity to pick up their lives again.”
Mr Musson said he had lost confidence in the Parole Board
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.”
The board said this was because the panel did not provide “adequate reasons” for why they disagreed with the prison offender manager’s recommendation.
Pitchfork, the first murderer to be convicted using DNA evidence, will remain in prison with a “complete re-hearing” to take place in due course.
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