Double child killer Colin Pitchfork to stay in prison

Double child murderer Colin Pitchfork has had his request to be released from prison turned down by the Parole Board.

Pitchfork, 65, was jailed for life in 1988 for raping and strangling 15-year-olds Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth in Leicestershire.

He was released on parole in 2021 before being recalled to prison months later.

The Parole Board granted him parole again in 2023 but the decision was challenged by ministers, leading to a fresh hearing this year.

On refusing release, the Parole Board said: “After considering the circumstances of his offending, the progress made while in custody, and on licence, and the evidence presented at the hearing, the panel was not satisfied that release at this point would be safe for the protection of the public.

“The panel considered [Pitchfork] to only have limited internal controls and poor insight into his risky thinking and behaviour.

“It noted a new previously unidentified risk had been observed in relation to his custodial behaviour and that this was yet to be properly explored or addressed.”

Pitchfork was also refused a transfer to an open prison, with the Parole Board deciding he had not made “sufficient progress in addressing and reducing risk”.

It added he will be eligible for another parole review “in due course”.

Pitchfork was the first killer in the world to be convicted using DNA evidence. He was given a minimum term of 30 years, which was reduced to 28 at the Court of Appeal in 2009.

He was initially deemed suitable for release subject to conditions in June 2021, but was recalled to jail in November that year after he was approaching young women.

In 2023 the Parole Board ruled he could be released, but this was challenged by then-Justice Secretary Alex Chalk, with his application for reconsideration granted on the grounds of “irrationality”, and he was denied release following further hearings.

Pitchfork successfully applied for reconsideration of this decision, but further hearings were delayed by a pending judicial review he had made against the Parole Board.

Following Pitchfork’s failed legal bid, a Parole Board Panel met in May and June 2025, but adjourned after finding there was “insufficient time” to hear the evidence.