Child killer in frenzied attack on woman in rake row

A MAN who violently attacked a dementia sufferer in a row over tools has been revealed as a child killer living under a pseudonym.

The father of three-year-old Lorraine Holt, who was murdered in January 1979, has criticised the Parole Board for giving Stephen Chafer the chance to re-offend. Chafer was 17 when he was jailed for life for sexually assaulting the girl before knifing her to death.

Now aged 57, he was this month convicted of the attempted murder of Fay Mills, 60, in another knife attack. He had been going by the name of Stephen Leonard when he attacked her.

Lorraine’s father Jim Holt told the BBC: “Because all of this has happened it’s brought all of (Lorraine’s death) back, not just to me, but to the whole of my family.”

The toddler was playing in the snow outside her family home but wandered off, and was later found by Chafer alone and crying. Chafer, who was Lorraine’s relative through marriage, carried her to the grounds of the nearby vicarage, where he sexually assaulted her before stabbing her.

He admitted her murder and was granted parole after serving 23 years in 2002. He was returned to prison in 2013 for torching his flat, risking the lives of his neighbours, but was released in 2017.

He was convicted this month of the attempted murder of dementia sufferer Mrs Mills on June 23 at her home in Peterborough, and will be sentenced next month. At his trial, Cambridge Crown Court heard he launched a frenzied attack on Mrs Mills following a row about a rake and almost decapitated her.

The Parole Board said an “extremely small proportion” of cases saw offenders go on to commit serious offences after being released, but stressed it is committed to ensuring “lessons are learned to help to prevent further tragedies”.