Colin Pitchfork: Private parole hearing for double child killer

Colin Pitchfork was released from prison in 2021 after 33 years but later recalled

A parole hearing for double child killer and rapist Colin Pitchfork will take place in private, the Parole Board has ruled.

Pitchfork was jailed for life after raping and strangling two 15-year-old girls, Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth, in Leicestershire in 1983 and 1986.

The 62-year-old was released in 2021 before being arrested two months later.

An MP had applied for the hearing, which is due to take place in April, to be held in public.

Parole Board chair Caroline Corby said: "The ongoing risk of serious harm to Mr Pitchfork is as a result of media attention.

"Significant threats of harm have been made to Mr Pitchfork and the Probation Service has ongoing concerns about vigilante incidents."

Dawn Ashworth and Lynda Mann were raped and murdered by Pitchfork

Parole Board hearings can now take place in public following reforms that came into force last year.

The first-ever public hearing took place earlier this year for wife killer Russell Causley, who has since been freed from prison, with the second - for the notorious prisoner best-known as Charles Bronson, currently under way.

In her ruling, Ms Corby said a public hearing might add to Pitchfork's "grandiosity".

She added much of the evidence in the case would centre on why Pitchfork - who has changed his name twice following his conviction in 1988 - was recalled to prison, some details of which cannot be heard in public.

Pitchfork was arrested after his release following concerns raised by probation staff about his behaviour.

He is understood to have approached young women on multiple occasions while out on walks from his bail hostel.

South Leicestershire MP Alberto Costa has campaigned against Pitchfork's release

Ms Corby said: "In circumstances where evidence which is likely to be critical to the panel's decision cannot be heard in public, it is difficult to see how a public hearing would aid transparency or public understanding of the parole system or the decision in this case.

"Although five out of the six victims are content for Mr Pitchfork's hearing to be in public, one victim does not wish the hearing to be in public due to concerns about the notorious nature of this case and potential trauma.

"The wishes of all victims weigh very heavily with me."

'Deeply alarmed'

The Parole Board stated it would "explore whether it may be possible to support the victims observing the hearing".

The Conservative MP for South Leicestershire, Alberto Costa, had called for Pitchfork's hearing to be heard in public.

Mr Costa said he was "deeply disappointed" at the Parole Board's decision.

"Pitchfork is a convicted child-rapist and killer and was the first offender to be convicted using DNA fingerprinting evidence," he said.

"Therefore, I maintain that his case is very much in the public interest, and that having his case heard in public would greatly contribute to the wider understanding of the parole system which is often an unclear and obfuscated process.

"I look forward to meeting with the justice secretary next week in order to continue to highlight the serious concerns of my constituents, and countless others, who are deeply alarmed at the prospect of Pitchfork's release."