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

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I'm a former American who lives in the UK. I love many things about the UK, but letting people like this out of prison is not one of them. There are hundreds of studies, these types of offenders do not get rehabilitated. I find the UK sentencing laws insanely lenient overall. People that murder and rape go away for life in the US, 99% of the time. If they do ever get out, they are elderly, or otherwise so decrepit they pose no risk. This guy is fit and healthy enough to be in an open prison environment, he's fit and healthy enough to re-offend.


ALL MOO
 
29 Acacia Road said:
My apologies, the point still stands that a 61 year old double stranger murderer and rapist is still a significant risk to women and young girls.
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We have no idea whether he still is or not. He has been in prison for 33 years so we have no idea what person he is now. That he has for years now been in an open prison & going on unsupervised day trips out into the community without attacking anybody might be an indicator that he has reformed.
 
I thought people might be interested in reading the judgment in the application by the DoJ for the Parole Board to reconsider its decision re CP.

Interestingly, the only basis on which the application was made was that the Parole Board "failed to provide sufficient reasons why it agreed with the assessments of the professional witnesses that the statutory test for release had been met" - in other words, that because the Parole Board hadn't communicated a full justification of its decision and its acceptance of the expert opinions given, then it must follow that its decision was irrational.

This is a pretty weak argument and unsurprisingly it was rejected. However, having read the whole judgment, which contains a summary of some of the facts that were put before the PB panel, I must say I'm wondering if the right decision has been made here, given the lack of remorse, the recent history of lying, and the explicit concerns about deceit and manipulativeness.

As I think my previous posts convey, I'm very open to the idea of rehabilitation and think it's what we should ideally be aiming for, but I also have a bit of experience of working with this kind of offender and this document raises some red flags for me, if I'm honest.

Anyway, judge for yourself:
Secretary of State, Application for Reconsideration in the case of Pitchfork, [2021] PBRA 96 (08 July 2021)
 
JuicyLucy said:
I thought people might be interested in reading the judgment in the application by the DoJ for the Parole Board to reconsider its decision re CP.

Interestingly, the only basis on which the application was made was that the Parole Board "failed to provide sufficient reasons why it agreed with the assessments of the professional witnesses that the statutory test for release had been met" - in other words, that because the Parole Board hadn't communicated a full justification of its decision and its acceptance of the expert opinions given, then it must follow that its decision was irrational.

This is a pretty weak argument and unsurprisingly it was rejected. However, having read the whole judgment, which contains a summary of some of the facts that were put before the PB panel, I must say I'm wondering if the right decision has been made here, given the lack of remorse, the recent history of lying, and the explicit concerns about deceit and manipulativeness.

As I think my previous posts convey, I'm very open to the idea of rehabilitation and think it's what we should ideally be aiming for, but I also have a bit of experience of working with this kind of offender and this document raises some red flags for me, if I'm honest.

Anyway, judge for yourself:
Secretary of State, Application for Reconsideration in the case of Pitchfork, [2021] PBRA 96 (08 July 2021)
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In your experience, does a sexual sadist usually prove to be a good candidate for rehabilitation, if they have already offended to the level or rape and murder (twice)?

I have even more grave concerns with this decision after reading the judgement. Another person in this thread said something along the lines of in this day and age it is much harder to offend and if they do they will almost certainly be court. That may well be true, but that is the wrong attitude to take.

I've no doubt with the polygraphs and other things in place Pitchfork will be caught if he carries out a plan, but if he is caught after and not before (when he is thinking about it) then that has created a victim(s). If that victim is raped or worse still murdered, then him being caught and caught quickly will be of very little comfort.
 
29 Acacia Road said:
In your experience, does a sexual sadist usually prove to be a good candidate for rehabilitation, if they have already offended to the level or rape and murder (twice)?

I have even more grave concerns with this decision after reading the judgement. Another person in this thread said something along the lines of in this day and age it is much harder to offend and if they do they will almost certainly be court. That may well be true, but that is the wrong attitude to take.

I've no doubt with the polygraphs and other things in place Pitchfork will be caught if he carries out a plan, but if he is caught after and not before (when he is thinking about it) then that has created a victim(s). If that victim is raped or worse still murdered, then him being caught and caught quickly will be of very little comfort.
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I largely agree with you. To answer your question, I wouldn't say I have enough experience to speak with expertise about sexual sadists generally. I only know what I observed in my encounters with the particular killers I worked with, which, for obvious reasons, I can't share.

My general position I think is best expressed by what I posted earlier in the thread:

JuicyLucy said:
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.

[...]

I do believe some killers become safe, but whether CP is one of them I couldn't say.

[...]
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More specifically about CP, having read the judge's remarks, I've shifted my position more towards feeling that he should not have been released, or at least that I personally would not have advocated for it.

That said, I acknowledge that the Parole Board will have had access to detail that we don't know and can't infer from such a brief document.

But that's MHO, and thank you for asking.
 
JuicyLucy said:
I largely agree with you. To answer your question, I wouldn't say I have enough experience to speak with expertise about sexual sadists generally. I only know what I observed in my encounters with the particular killers I worked with, which, for obvious reasons, I can't share.

My general position I think is best expressed by what I posted earlier in the thread:



More specifically about CP, having read the judge's remarks, I've shifted my position more towards feeling that he should not have been released, or at least that I personally would not have advocated for it.

That said, I acknowledge that the Parole Board will have had access to detail that we don't know and can't infer from such a brief document.

But that's MHO, and thank you for asking.
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Thank you for the thought provoking reply. I guess we can only hope the parole board consider CP's past and possible future manipulative behaviour will be around minor things that in isolation are unlikely to increase his changes of re-offending. I'd really like to know every condition he may be under, such as if there are any stipulations on internet use, living or working near a high school perhaps (given the age of his victims), stuff like that would give me a greater confidence. I do hope the polygraphs are regular and unannounced, I would also like our parole board to consider the use of brain fingerprinting in the future, as I consider it to be more accurate than a polygraph, but it is unlikely to be widely used even in the US.
 
Colin Pitchfork, who raped and murdered two schoolgirls in the 1980s, has been released from prison.

[...]

And in a clear indication of the threat he still poses, he will be subject to some of the strictest licence conditions ever set.

The killer will wear an electronic tag so he can be monitored at all times, banned from going near the relatives of his victims and face restrictions on using the internet by himself.

Child killer Colin Pitchfork is freed from jail after Parole Board rejected appeal | Daily Mail Online
 
From the above Daily Mail article:

According to the document, at the time of his offending Pitchfork thought 'about sex a lot', used 'violence and excessive force' and 'sex to demonstrate power and control over women'.

He also struggled to cope with anger, loneliness and had a willingness to 'seek revenge'.

During his time behind bars he has taken part in several courses to address his behaviour and the panel heard Pitchfork's 'behaviour in custody had been positive and had included extensive efforts to help others', including learning skills to help disabled people, the document said.



Pitchfork has learnt exactly how to fool the parole board.His release is an insult to his victims and their families. Moo.
 
Skigh said:
From the above Daily Mail article:

According to the document, at the time of his offending Pitchfork thought 'about sex a lot', used 'violence and excessive force' and 'sex to demonstrate power and control over women'.

He also struggled to cope with anger, loneliness and had a willingness to 'seek revenge'.

During his time behind bars he has taken part in several courses to address his behaviour and the panel heard Pitchfork's 'behaviour in custody had been positive and had included extensive efforts to help others', including learning skills to help disabled people, the document said.

Pitchfork has learnt exactly how to fool the parole board.His release is an insult to his victims and their families. Moo.
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I must say I'm not sure I rate learning skills to help disabled people as a rehabilitative tool. What that mainly does, as far as I can see, is equip offenders to work with some of society's most vulnerable people after their release. JMHO.
 
Child killer Colin Pitchfork is freed from jail after Parole Board rejected appeal | Daily Mail Online


The mother of one of double child killer Colin Pitchfork's victims reacted with fury as he was released today, declaring 'he shouldn't be breathing the same air as us'.

Notorious murderer Pitchfork was freed after the Parole Board rejected the Government and his devastated victims' families' legal challenge.

He strangled and raped 15-year-olds Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth in Leicestershire in 1983 and 1986.

Barbara Ashworth, mother of Dawn, said: 'Well it was on the books that he was going to be released, but I don't think he should be breathing the same air as us.
 
Skigh said:
From the above Daily Mail article:

According to the document, at the time of his offending Pitchfork thought 'about sex a lot', used 'violence and excessive force' and 'sex to demonstrate power and control over women'.

He also struggled to cope with anger, loneliness and had a willingness to 'seek revenge'.

During his time behind bars he has taken part in several courses to address his behaviour and the panel heard Pitchfork's 'behaviour in custody had been positive and had included extensive efforts to help others', including learning skills to help disabled people, the document said.



Pitchfork has learnt exactly how to fool the parole board.His release is an insult to his victims and their families. Moo.
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Possibly, but he might also have changed after decades. It is clear from his offending pattern that there was something going on for him to expose himself to so many women-if he was exposed to sexual stuff during his childhood/adolescence by his family or peers in some way then that would have influenced it. As we have seen when you take people out of that environment & teach them differently then they change.
 
IMO, prisoners guilty of sexual crimes should be offered the choice of chemical castration in exchange for release into society. If the prisoner/s does not agree I would be loathe to release them back into society.
 
Colin Pitchfork gets a new name but must tell girlfriends who he is or face jail | Daily Mail Online

Child killer Colin Pitchfork is 'using a new name' and will be forced to tell new girlfriends about his crimes or face going back to jail - as inmates warn 'he's still a danger to women and children'


'He's got a new name, he's the most arrogant prisoner I have ever come across.



'He talked down to prisoners. He's got that much protection around him you can't do anything.

'He's still got that look in eyes - he switches quick. When he got his parole he was walking round with a bigger smile on his face than he ever had.

'He is still a danger 100 per cent. He would get annoyed when female staff would tell him off.'
 
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Scorpiette said:
IMO, prisoners guilty of sexual crimes should be offered the choice of chemical castration in exchange for release into society. If the prisoner/s does not agree I would be loathe to release them back into society.
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Chemical Castration doesn't work. It belongs in the same bin as Electric Shock Therapy to 'cure' homosexuality.
 
Families' fury as child killer Colin Pitchfork strolls free near schools after prison release | Daily Mail Online


Wearing a flat cap and spectacles, double child killer Colin Pitchfork enjoys life as a free man.

To the fury of his victims’ relatives, the 61-year-old sexual predator has been placed in a hostel close to three schools and two nurseries.

Pitchfork, who was imprisoned for life in 1988 for the rape and murder of two 15-year-old girls, was secretly driven away from prison by police last week.

Over the past few days, the slimmed-down murderer has been spotted taking daily walks past unsuspecting families from his hostel in the south of England.
 
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