Colin Pitchfork: Double child killer won’t be released from prison

Colin Pitchfork was jailed for the murder and rape of two 15-year-old girls in the 1980s

(PA)

Double child murderer and rapist Colin Pitchfork will not be released from prison, the Parole Board has ruled.

Pitchfork, 63, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 30 years in 1988 for raping and strangling 15-year-old girls Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth in 1983 and 1986 respectively.

It comes after justice secretary Alex Chalk challenged the body’s decision to release him in June 2023, following his initial release around two years earlier.

In September 2021, he was released but returned to prison after approaching “several” young women while out on walks.

Now, the Parole Board has said his release would not be safe for the protection of the public after considering his offending and progress made while in custody.

Dawn Ashworth (left) and Lynda Mann (right) were raped and strangled by Pitchfork in the 1980s (PA)

Pitchfork was the first murderer to be convicted using DNA evidence and was jailed for a minimum of 30 years in 1988.

He murdered his first victim, Lynda, in Narborough, Leicestershire, in November 1983, before going on to kill Dawn three years later.

At the time he committed his first crime, Pitchfork was a 22-year-old, married father-of-two. He admitted to two murders, two rapes, two indecent assaults and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice

A Parole Board statement read: “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.

“Nor did the panel recommend to the Secretary of State that Mr Pitchfork should be transferred to an open prison.

“In the panel’s view, there remains a need for Mr Pitchfork to complete further work to address the identified risk factors in his case and it determined that this work should be undertaken in a closed prison.

“Mr Pitchfork will be eligible for another parole review in due course.”