Child killer is one step closer to freedom
Victim’s sister urges caution as murderer is up for parole
A DOUBLE child killer who was the first person convicted of murder using DNA evidence may be on the brink of being released, we can reveal.
Colin Pitchfork got life in 1988 for the rapes and murders of 15-year-olds Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth.
But he has a parole hearing in the coming days and Lynda’s sister Rebecca Eastwood is horrified by the prospect of him walking to freedom.
Rebecca said: “It angers me a lot. I know he’s done his time but I would really urge everyone to be cautious about his release.”
Pitchfork, 60, has been on courses to stop him re-offending, and has studied art and design behind bars.
But worried Rebecca said: “I don’t know if someone like that can ever come back from committing a crime like that.”
Dad-of-two Pitchfork was 22 when he raped and strangled Lynda, in Narborough, Leics, in November 1983.
The schoolgirl had left her home to visit a friend. Her body was found the next morning on a deserted footpath. Baker Pitchfork, struck again less than three years later when he attacked Dawn in July 1986 in nearby Enderby as she walked home. Her body was found less than a mile from where Lynda had been killed.
Leicestershire Police launched the largest manhunt in its history to find Dawn’s murderer, and asked more than 5,000 local men to volunteer blood or saliva in a bid to match samples taken from the crime scenes.
None was found but in 1987 a bakery colleague was overheard boasting that he’d received £200 for giving a sample while posing as Pitchfork. This was reported to police and a month later Pitchfork was arrested.
In 1988 he pleaded guilty to the rape and murder of Lynda and Dawn, and was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 30 years. This was reduced on appeal to 28 years in 2009.
In jail he has changed his name to David Thorpe. Four years ago he was let out of HMP Leyhill in Gloucestershire to go shopping alone.
Two consecutive Parole Board hearings in the past 12 months were delayed by the pandemic. A decision on his future is expected in the second week of April.
A source said: “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. The trips from prison went without any hitch.”
A Parole Board spokesman said: “Decisions are solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public if released and whether that risk is manageable in the community.
“The panel will carefully examine a whole range of evidence, including details of the original crime, and any evidence of behaviour change, as well as understand the harm done and impact the crime has had on the victims.
“Parole reviews are undertaken thoroughly and with extreme care. Protecting the public is our number one priority.”
I don’t know if someone like him can come back from a crime
like that