Release on parole of double child killer Colin Pitchfork an ‘insult to victims’, say family of another murdered teenager

Convicted child killer Colin Pitchfork being eligible for release is an "insult to the young victims", according to the parents of a teenager murdered almost three decades later.

Georgia Williams' family say that Pitchfork – who was jailed for life after strangling 15-yearolds Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth in Leicestershire in 1983 and 1986 – should be kept in prison "because life should mean life".

The Parole Board has ruled

Pitchfork can be released following a hearing in March – the decision of which was announced on Monday – but Ms Williams' parents believe "Pitchfork would kill again".

Georgia was 17 when she was killed in 2013, and her parents' words were shared in the Commons on Wednesday as MPS participated in an opposition day debate on justice for victims.

Conservative Lucy Allan (Telford) told the House: "Today I rise to speak on behalf of Georgia Williams, a Telford teenager and her family.

"Almost exactly eight years 0 Colin Pitchfork was jailed for life for murders in the 1980s

ago today Georgia suffered a brutal death at the hands of a sadistic killer. A killer who repeatedly sought out young victims, groomed and stalked them as he pursued and finally executed a grotesque sexual fantasy.

"The perpetrator rightly received a whole life term. Georgia was 17, she was optimistic, she was fun she was happy, she shone with light and energy. Full of hope for the future she had her whole life to live, ambitions to be fulfilled, dreams to come true. Georgia was all about what is so good about young people."

She told colleagues that Georgia's parents had "reached out to her" on hearing the news about Pitchfork "because they know the grief and suffering victims families feel and they want others to understand, they want others to know why life must mean life".

Ms Allan called on the Government to "focus on the role of the parole board" and "ensure it has the full confidence and trust of the public and its victims".

Closing her speech, she recounted the comments from Georgia's parents: "To hear that Colin Pitchfork, who took the lives of two children for his own pleasure is to be released is an insult to the young victims."