Colin Pitchfork: Date set for double child killer's parole hearing

Colin Pitchfork was jailed for life for raping and strangling two 15-year-old girls, Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth

Double child murderer and rapist Colin Pitchfork will face a new Parole Board hearing at the start of October.

Pitchfork was jailed for life for raping and strangling 15-year-olds Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth in Leicestershire in 1983 and 1986.

The 63-year-old was released in 2021 but returned to prison soon after.

In June the Parole Board again decided to release him but this decision was challenged by the government's justice secretary.

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

This was later reduced to 28 years for good behaviour.

Concerns over the June decision led to Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary Alex Chalk, making what is known as an "application for reconsideration" on 5 July.

Later that month the Parole Board announced it had granted the request after finding the decision had been "irrational".

Colin Pitchfork: Two brutal murders

• Colin Pitchfork, 22 at the time of the first murder, was married with two sons. He was a baker who grew up in rural Leicestershire and lived in Littlethorpe

• In November 1983 he left his baby son sleeping in the back of his car and raped and strangled 15-year-old Lynda Mann in Narborough. He then drove home and put his son to bed

• Three years later, less than a mile from where Lynda died, he raped and murdered Dawn Ashworth, also 15, of Enderby. The pathologist who examined her body described it as a "brutal sexual assault"

• A police investigation initially led to the wrong person, a local 17-year-old who falsely confessed to one of the killings. After an unprecedented mass screening of 5,000 men using pioneering "DNA profiling" technology, Pitchfork was eventually caught. At first, he had evaded justice by persuading a colleague to take the test for him

• He pleaded guilty to both murders in September 1987 and was sentenced to life in January 1988. The judge said the killings were "particularly sadistic" and he doubted Pitchfork would ever be released

• In 2009, his 30-year life tariff was reduced by two years for "exceptional progress" - a decision that was strongly criticised by the families of his victims

• He was moved to an undisclosed open prison at some point prior to 8 January 2017, after his request for release

South Leicestershire MP Alberto Costa, who has campaigned to keep Pitchfork behind bars, attended the parole hearing earlier this year.

He said: "It was a very uncomfortable experience being able to see Mr Pitchfork and hear the arguments put forward by his legal team.

"And I objected when the Parole Board chose, once again, to release him and I made my objections known directly to the prime minister.

"If Colin Pitchfork had committed just one of his crimes today he would likely get a whole life tariff which would mean he would spend the whole of his natural life in prison regardless of whether he has been rehabilitated or not."

A Parole Board spokesperson said: "Parole Board decisions are solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public if released and whether that risk is manageable in the community.

"A panel will carefully examine a huge range of evidence, including details of the original crime, and any evidence of behaviour change, as well as explore the harm done and impact the crime has had on the victims.

"Parole reviews are undertaken thoroughly and with extreme care. Protecting the public is our number one priority."

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