Double child killer freed from prison
APPEAL TO KEEP PITCHFORK LOCKED UP REJECTED BY PAROLE BOARD
COLIN Pitchfork, the man who raped and murdered two 15-year-old girls in the 1980s, has walked free from prison after an appeal to keep him locked up was rejected. Pitchfork, a former pupil of Market Bosworth High School and Bosworth College in Desford and lived in Newbold Verdon until his marriage in 1981, was jailed for life in 1988 for killing Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth. Barbra Ashworth, mother of Dawn, said: “I don’t think he should be breathing the same air as us.”
He will be subject to some of the strictest licence conditions ever set and remain under supervision for the rest of his life MoJ
A man who raped and murdered two 15-year-old girls in the 1980s walked free from prison last week after an appeal to keep him locked up was rejected.
Colin Pitchfork, who as a child attended Market Bosworth High School and Bosworth College in Desford and lived in Newbold Verdon until his marriage in 1981, was jailed for life in 1988.
He was the first person to be convicted using DNA evidence and was jailed for 30 years – reduced to 28 years on appeal – for killing Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth.
Earlier this year, the Parole Board said it was satisfied Pitchfork, who became eligible for parole in 2015, was safe for release.
However, the decision was challenged by the government. Justice Secretary Robert Buckland asked for the case to be looked at again on the basis that the decision to release Pitchfork was irrational.
The Parole Board rejected the challenge.
It is understood Pitchfork, 61, will be subject to 36 licence conditions – some of the strictest ever set.
He will also have to wear an electronic tag, face restrictions on using the internet and be banned from going near relatives of his victims.
The Ministry of Justice said that if Pitchfork breaches any of the 36 licence conditions he will be recalled to prison. A spokesman said: “Our heartfelt sympathies remain with the families of Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth following the independent Parole Board’s decision to release Colin Pitchfork.
“Public safety is our top priority, which is why he will be subject to some of the strictest licence conditions ever set and remain under supervision for the rest of his life.
“If he breaches these conditions, he faces an immediate return to prison”
On November 22, 1983, Lynda Mann’s body was found on a deserted footpath in the Narborough area.
She had been raped and strangled by Pitchfork, who was then working at a bakery.
Three years later on August 2, 1986, Dawn Ashworth’s body was found in a wooded area near a footpath called Ten Pound Lane in the same area.
DNA profiling confirmed the girls had been killed by the same man and, in 1987, one of Pitchfork’s colleagues revealed to fellow workers that he had taken a blood test while masquerading as Pitchfork, who had told him he wanted to avoid being harassed by police because of prior convictions for indecent exposure.