UK - Colin Pitchfork, Child Killer May Be Released From Prison

[MajorHoople]

Schoolgirl killer Colin Pitchfork could be freed from jail as Parole Board consider case | Daily Mail Online


"One of the UK's most notorious killers, who raped and strangled two schoolgirls, could be freed from jail.

The Parole Board has met to decide whether Colin Pitchfork is eligible for early release.

He was jailed for life after strangling 15-year-olds Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth in Leicestershire in 1983 and 1986.

He became the first man convicted of murder on the basis of DNA evidence and was given a 30-year minimum term when sentenced at Leicester Crown Court in 1988.

Pitchfork changed his name to David Thorpe in jail and four years ago he was let out of HMP Leyhill in Gloucestershire to go shopping alone.

A source told The Mirror: 'He really thinks he'll be out by the summer because he's completed all the courses successfully and he was also allowed out in the local community before lockdown."

 

[cluciano63]

Oh terrific...

 

[KarenUK]

Colin Pitchfork: Double schoolgirl murderer can be released

He raped and murdered two 15 year olds, and that's it - he's free to go at the age of 61.

 

[Barbieshell]

Nope shouldn't be allowed, the bloke raped and killed 2 15 year old girls (on 2 separate occasions) - if he hadn't been caught and jailed he would have been a serial killer.
I think the man is a danger to women and children, he should NEVER be released.

 

[Filly]

Brutally murder two beautiful girls with their entire lives ahead of them. Put their poor families in agony for years. Nevermind the "would they be mother's today?" Or every missed birthday. Each anniversary of their murders.

O.K. go shopping. Change your name. Do whatever you want. Carry on, and let the community worry.

 

[Barbieshell]

Brutally murder two beautiful girls with their entire lives ahead of them. Put their poor families in agony for years. Nevermind the "would they be mother's today?" Or every missed birthday. Each anniversary of their murders.

O.K. go shopping. Change your name. Do whatever you want. Carry on, and let the community worry.

He'll be excited to know that he can potentially get out and do it again, absolutely disgusted this is even being considered tbh.

 

[Sarahlou]

Disgusted that he can be released! He should have been in for life.

 

[29 Acacia Road]

The parole board in the UK has had some pretty high profile serious mistakes in the past decade, you would have thought they would be taking a much more cautious approach with these decisions, but clearly they are not.

I don't have much praise for the US justice system compared to ours, I believe the UK system to be superior in nearly every way, however there is one thing I would like to see come across the pond;

longer sentences for serious crimes like murder, rape, child abuse and child sexual assault. The UK system is too weak in that regard and serious criminals have been paroled who have gone on to commit serious crimes again, including other murders.

 

[MajorHoople]

Fury as Parole Board rules notorious child killer Colin Pitchfork who raped and killed two schoolgirls in 1980s can be FREED after 33 years – despite new reforms that would keep him locked up

"Fury has today erupted over the Parole Board's decision to allow notorious child killer Colin Pitchfork to be freed from prison after 33 years.

Double-murderer Colin Pitchfork will be allowed to leave prison after being jailed for life for strangling 15-year-olds Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth in Leicestershire in 1983 and 1986.

The Parole Board ruled that Pitchfork, now in his 60s, had 'made progress' while in custody and could be released with a series of conditions imposed.

But it has sparked anger from local MP Alberto Costa, who described him as 'dangerous' and said his constituents would be 'appalled' by the Parole Board's decision.

The Tory MP South Leicestershire told the BBC: 'I, like many of my South Leicestershire constituents, am appalled at this decision that the Parole Board has made.

'Even though some 30 years have passed this isn't the sort of crime that one can ever forget.

'My constituents remember the victims, people who went to school with these victims, and they look to me as the member of Parliament to do everything I can to inform the state that it would be immoral, wrong and frankly dangerous to release this disgraceful murderer of two children."

 

[Legally Bland]

Not sure if this bit has been posted:

It has also been reported he will be given a new identity.

Full Parole Board statement on freeing killer Colin PItchfork

 

[MajorHoople]

Not sure if this bit has been posted:

It has also been reported he will be given a new identity.

Full Parole Board statement on freeing killer Colin PItchfork

A new identity is very different than the way most states in the US do it. For example, here is a listing from the Florida Department Of Corrections for wife killer Mark Sievers.

It even has a photo.

 

[JuicyLucy]

I don't know if releasing Colin Pitchfork is the right thing to do or not. I'm sure that the parole board will have had information that isn't in the public domain, but even if I had access to that information I don't feel I'm qualified to make that decision.

But I do feel that however else parole decisions are made, it shouldn't be on the basis of emotive statements like Alberto Costa's that 'Even though some 30 years have passed this isn't the sort of crime that one can ever forget.' That's true, of course, but imo not relevant to whether or not the public is now safe with this man walking free. As an MP, he is understandably reflecting the anxieties of his constituents, many of whom will remember and have been affected by the case, but none of that tells us anything about the qualities of this prisoner now.

I do feel strongly that prisoners, even murderers and rapists sometimes, can be rehabilitated - although not all of them obviously, and much more research is needed to understand which, and how. Whether any of that is something the UK prison system is doing effectively at the moment is also an important conversation to be having. But if it were to be possible, this is the outcome I believe we should be aiming for as often as we can.

 

[Filly]

I don't know if releasing Colin Pitchfork is the right thing to do or not. I'm sure that the parole board will have had information that isn't in the public domain, but even if I had access to that information I don't feel I'm qualified to make that decision.

But I do feel that however else parole decisions are made, it shouldn't be on the basis of emotive statements like Alberto Costa's that 'Even though some 30 years have passed this isn't the sort of crime that one can ever forget.' That's true, of course, but imo not relevant to whether or not the public is now safe with this man walking free. As an MP, he is understandably reflecting the anxieties of his constituents, many of whom will remember and have been affected by the case, but none of that tells us anything about the qualities of this prisoner now.

I do feel strongly that prisoners, even murderers and rapists sometimes, can be rehabilitated - although not all of them obviously, and much more research is needed to understand which, and how. Whether any of that is something the UK prison system is doing effectively at the moment is also an important conversation to be having. But if it were to be possible, this is the outcome I believe we should be aiming for as often as we can.

Respectfully with great admiration understanding your point, and questions.

My answer to that is to have this murderer live with or next to one of the parole board members with teen daughters. Give it a year. See how it works out.

Meanwhile his some 29 or so conditions of parole are absurd.

Your enthusiasm, care, concern, and hope are not lost.

 

[JuicyLucy]

Respectfully with great admiration understanding your point, and questions.

My answer to that is to have this murderer live with or next to one of the parole board members with teen daughters. Give it a year. See how it works out.

Meanwhile his some 29 or so conditions of parole are absurd.

Your enthusiasm, care, concern, and hope are not lost.

I suppose this is the sort of scenario a parole board member asks themselves about, although obviously in practice is not about to happen.

I've worked with killers, some of them brutal and sadistic, and there have been some I wouldn't leave in a room with a tarantula for a minute, never mind a loved one indefinitely. It's understandable that this is the sort of person people have in mind whenever parole is under discussion, and when even experienced professionals aren't agreed about who is remorseful and who is simply manipulative, of course there will be anxiety about how good the decisionmaking is.

Myself, I would keep the bar high, or even raise it, for downgrading high-secure prisoners to medium-secure and medium-secure to low-secure, etc, and for allowing day release and parole. But I would also be applying a forensic prism to the kinds of treatments and interventions available for psychiatric patients in the community who are, for example, 'only' (at present) fantasising about raping and killing - and funding those preventive interventions, which I currently see no great appetitite for, either in parliament or the media. (I am thinking for example of killers like Daniel Gonzales.)

I do believe some killers become safe, but whether CP is one of them I couldn't say. What I do know is that there is a great deal more in the way of resources and expertise applied to prisoners like him than to the rehabilitation of ordinary offenders - people who rob banks, mug people on the street or get into knife fights - or to obviously disturbed individuals who have yet to offend. Whether any of that's the right way round is another important conversation we should probably be having as a society.

Thank you for your courteous reply.

 

[Skigh]

He took two lives. He should have been given 30 years for each murder.

 

[KarenUK]

Very interesting posts @JuicyLucy, thank you.

I suppose it comes down to the rehabilitation v punishment argument and it's an emotive case, a bit like David McGreavy recently.

 

[jimbob5]

He has served more than his time & is considered fit for release. You cannot lock everybody up forever. We have no idea how much he has changed in prison over 33 years.

 

[jimbob5]

He took two lives. He should have been given 30 years for each murder.

Doubt that was even allowable under UK law back then-don't think that came in until 2003. 33 years is a fantastic result. He will like the Bulger killers be on licence for the rest of his life & if he steps out of line he goes back to jail.

 

[Sarahlou]

He has served more than his time & is considered fit for release. You cannot lock everybody up forever. We have no idea how much he has changed in prison over 33 years.

I think someone who has raped and murdered two people should definitely be locked up forever. The poor girls will never get another chance at life so why should he? His crimes were monstrous.

 

[Skigh]

I think someone who has raped and murdered two people should definitely be locked up forever. The poor girls will never get another chance at life so why should he? His crimes were monstrous.

I agree. Added to that he also tried to evade capture by getting someone else to provide a DNA test for him. His victims ' families should be the first priority .