Collette Gallacher: Sisters of murdered girl call for prisoner recall transparency

Collette Gallacher was on her way to school when she was abducted, raped and murdered by Adam Stein

The sisters of a six-year-old girl murdered on her way to school 37 years ago are calling for greater transparency after her killer was recalled to prison.

Collette Gallacher was raped and strangled by Adam Stein in Corby, Northamptonshire on 28 February 1986.

He was released in 2016 and in November 2022 was jailed for four years, but the family have not been told why.

The Probation Service said protecting the public was its main priority.

Lauren and Claire Holmes believed he still presented "a danger to the public".

Collette was walking to a bus stop, on her way to Our Lady of Walsingham Primary School, when Stein lured her away with a packet of crisps.

Following a massive search by police and volunteers, Collette's body was found six days later in Stein's attic,

Then aged 26, he was jailed for life in 1986 and told he would have to serve a minimum of 20 years. He was refused parole at several reviews before being released in 2016.

He has since been recalled to prison twice, first for driving offences in 2017, and again in 2022.

Claire (left) and Lauren Holmes said they would continue to fight for justice in their sister's memory

The family are calling for more transparency for victims when a offender is recalled after authorities have refused to disclose the offence for which he has been imprisoned again.

Lauren, 38, who was a toddler when her sister was killed, said it "smacks of suspicion", given the family were told the first recall to prison related to driving offences.

Claire, 31, was born after her sister's murder and said as a family they "struggle" with the amount of "protection an offender gets".

'How many chances does a child murderer get?'

Prior to his last release in 2021, the sisters successfully campaigned to have Stein added to the sex offenders' register.

"Public protection should be number one; in this case it really isn't," said Claire.

"This time it's a longer sentence and we don't know why, and it's quite concerning."

Lauren said: "How many chances does a child murderer get?"

"We have to fight because she's is not here to fight for herself.

"The public should be protected. This man is a risk and always will be a risk."

Lauren, pictured as a baby in Collette's arms, said Adam Stein was still a "danger to the public"

Through parole board decision summaries, the sisters have seen "sickening" documentation which detailed Stein having "distorted sexual thoughts about children" as late as 2018 and other "awful tendencies", Claire said.

"We can see what a risk he is through the summaries we're getting, so we don't understand why we are still going through this," she added.

"The reason why we keep challenging things, including how to change things, is because we don't want anyone else to be a victim at his hands."

Claire said that given Stein was now subject to further restrictions by being on the sex offenders' register she worried that his latest breach concerned women or children.

She said: "[It's] always our biggest worry that he's hurt another child or another woman. It's hard to even think maybe it's been allowed by him being released.

"It's not about him re-entering our lives; it's about him ruining another life."

The younger sisters said they believe better transparency is needed to prevent anyone else facing the same situation as their family

Lauren said: "You shouldn't be allowed out if you've raped and murdered a child anyway.

"He's had numerous opportunities to turn his life around and be a better person. And time and again he's shown he has no desire to do that.

"When does it end? Is it going to be someone else gets killed before he's not fit for release?"

A Probation Service spokesperson said: "Protecting the public is our number one priority so when offenders breach the conditions of their release, we don't hesitate to return them to custody."

A spokesman for the parole board said its decisions were "solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public if released and whether that risk is manageable in the community".

He added that evidence from a a wide range of sources was used to make the decision, including statements from victims, and reviews were "undertaken thoroughly and with extreme care".

"Protecting the public is our number one priority," the spokesman said.