MUM’S PLEA
A DOUBLE killer is moving to an open jail ahead of possible release – much to the horror of one victim’s family.
Darren Pilkington was branded a “danger to society” by the parents of Carly Fairhurst, who was 19 when she died after a string of beatings.
Pilkington, 39, knocked her down a flight of stairs and left her for hours before calling 999.
She died in the arms of her devastated mum Sheila, who told the Sunday People: “He’s a danger to the public.
“We’ve been told the only way he’ll never be released is if he kills a third person. How ridiculous is that?”
Pilkington, 39, was jailed for manslaughter in 2006.
It was his second manslaughter conviction – having killed a friend in a pub brawl in 2001.
Over the past decade he has been released four times but recalled on each occasion after breaking rules and going on drink and drug binges.
Now Carly’s parents have blasted a decision – approved but yet to be announced – to move him to an open prison, paving the way for his eventual release.
Tearful Sheila, 65, said: “Pilkington will always be a danger to women and everyone else.
“How many chances does he get? A third family has to suffer what we’ve been through so he never walks free.
“The Justice Secretary has already approved his move to an open prison but we now want them to stop it if they can.
Bully
“Every moment that he lives and breathes means we are serving a life sentence. As long as he is alive he will never change. He’s always been a bully, a danger to society.”
Pilkington was 15 when he was locked up for beating to death 30-year-old Paul Akister during a fight outside a pub in Wigan.
Carly was his second victim. She naively started writing to him in prison and hid the friendship from her parents.
When the killer was freed after serving half of a four-year sentence, she moved into a flat with him. Carly suffered brutal beatings but lied to worried Sheila and her father, Trevor, when they asked about her bruises. One night in 2006 the lovers had a row and drunken Pilkington lashed out, knocking Carly downstairs. He covered himself and unconscious Carly with a duvet and fell asleep. Pilkington left it until the next morning before dialling 999 – but by then it was too late.
Carly suffered a fractured skull and brain damage and died six days later after her life support was switched off. Pilkington was given an indefinite sentence for manslaughter, with a minimum three years.
Retired lorry driver Trevor, 67, said: “When he was jailed for Carly’s death he was jailed for the public protection. The public still needs protecting – even senior officers say he’s still a danger.”
Fugitive
Over the past decade Pilkington has been repeatedly released but consistently breached his licence.
The last time he was moved to an open prison he went on the run, but was caught after five days as a fugitive. On another occasion he was recalled because he hid a secret girlfriend from the authorities.
Last month Pilkington appealed a decision not to release him for a fifth time.
He whined that the decision was “irrational” because he posed only a “medium” risk to the public. He claimed he did not need open prison and should walk free instead.
Sheila was horrified. She said: “He will always be a danger to the public.
“We’ve never been allowed to come to terms with what he did because every few years we have to deal with the thought of him being released. “We have to write to the Parole Board every time and tell them that he’s not fit for freedom. They don’t have a clue what they are putting us through.”
Pilkington was released last year with a strict condition that he did not enter an exclusion zone covering the whole of Wigan borough and beyond.
But Trevor and Sheila claimed he was thrown back in jail after police picked him up just miles from their home.
Sheila said: “It’s terrifying and it’s insulting. Carly is buried here and one of the big concerns is that he tries to visit her – I don’t want him anywhere near her grave.”
The Parole Board is currently undergoing a shake-up of the system following scandals such as the release of double child killer Colin Pitchfork and the aborted plan to free black cab rapist John Worboys. It is claimed officials
He’ll always be a danger... how many chances
does he get?