Michael Sams: Murderer and kidnapper will remain in prison

Michael Sams was jailed for life in 1993

Notorious murderer and kidnapper Michael Sams will remain in prison after unsuccessfully making a bid for freedom at a parole hearing.

Sams, from Sutton-on-Trent in Nottinghamshire, killed Leeds teenager Julie Dart and kidnapped Birmingham estate agent Stephanie Slater.

A Parole Board panel has decided Sams, who is now 81, is not suitable for release after a hearing on 20 March.

He will also not be transferred to an open prison.

In its decision summary, the Parole Board said the panel had examined a release plan provided by Sams' probation officer.

"The plan included a requirement to reside in designated accommodation for an extended period of time as well as strict limitations on Mr Sams' contacts, movements and activities," the decision summary said.

"The panel concluded this plan was not robust enough to manage Mr Sams in the community at this stage."

Julie Dart was killed without any serious attempt to pick up a ransom

Similarly, Sams was not found to meet the criteria for transfer to an open prison.

"The panel also examined the option for Mr Sams to be managed in an open prison with lower levels of security and where at times he would be in the community during periods of temporary release," said the decision summary. "It concluded that he did not meet the criteria for such a transfer."

The panel had considered the circumstances of his offending, progress made while in custody, and also evidence presented at the hearing.

Sams himself chose not to give evidence to the panel, although he was present for the hearing.

The kidnapping of Stephanie Slater

A seven-part podcast on the Stephanie Slater case is available on BBC Sounds

Sams was 51 when he was given a life sentence in 1993 for murdering Ms Dart, who was 18, and kidnapping Stephanie Slater, who was 25.

He was ordered to spend a minimum term of 25 years in prison.

As well as kidnapping Ms Slater in 1992, he had falsely imprisoned her and demanded a £175,000 ransom for her safe return.

Ms Slater, who died of cancer in 2017, was kept handcuffed, gagged and blindfolded in a coffin-like box, itself locked inside a wheelie bin in Sams' workshop in Newark-upon-Trent.

He had used a similar means to imprison Ms Dart in 1991, before killing her with a hammer.

Stephanie Slater worked as an estate agent and was kidnapped during a bogus house viewing

Sams was caught when his third wife recognised his voice from a clip played on the BBC's Crimewatch programme.

He previously failed to have his security risk downgraded in March 2012.

Sams was fighting to re-categorise his prisoner status from category A and told a High Court judge the level of risk he posed to women prison staff had fallen over the years.