Fury over child killer released after 33 years
FAMILIES FIGHT TO KEEP BEAST IN JAIL
FRIENDS and relatives of two schoolgirls brutally raped and murdered have reacted with fury at news their killer is to be freed from jail.
Paedophile Colin Pitchfork was sentenced to life in 1988 for the twisted killings of 15-year-olds Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth.
The Parole Board yesterday announced they believe he no longer poses a risk to young women.
They say the 61-year-old – the first murderer to be convicted using DNA evidence – can be set free after serving 33 years, despite pleas from the victims’ families’ to keep him caged.
Lynda’s mum Kath Eastwood, 72, said: “He shouldn’t even be breathing and should, at least, be locked up for ever. I wake in the night traumatised by the thought of his release. It’s as if the system protects criminals, not the victims and their families.”
Dawn’s mother Barbara, 74, said previously: “A person like Pitchfork will never be safe for release. There’s no justice in the world. I’ve lived with this for 30 years. Dawn’s life was taken before it had really begun.”
Alberto Costa, MP for South Leicestershire, where the attacks took place, said he was “appalled”.
He added: “Even though some 30 years have passed this isn’t the sort of crime that one can ever forget. My constituents remember the victims, and they look to me to do everything I can to inform the state that it would be immoral, wrong and frankly dangerous to release this murderer of two children.”
Grant
The Tory MP accused the Parole Board of “playing politics”. Justice Secretary Robert Buckland now has 21 days to either grant approval or appeal the decision. Pitchfork, who now calls himself David Thorpe, raped and strangled Lynda in 1983 after dropping his wife at an evening class and while his baby son slept in the car. Three years later, the baker killed and raped Dawn in almost identical circumstances. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life with a minimum 30 years, reduced to 28 years on appeal. On release he will adhere to 35 conditions including wearing a tag and taking lie detector tests.
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