The double child killer Colin Pitchfork has had his release from prison put on hold after a judge decided the decision to free him should be reviewed.
In June, the Parole Board said Pitchfork, who was jailed for life and handed a minimum term of 30 years in 1988 for the rape and murder of Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth, both 15, no longer posed a threat to the public.
After criticism of the decision from the MP in the constituency where the killings occurred, Alberto Costa, the justice secretary, Alex Chalk, applied for the case to be reconsidered.
On Thursday, the Parole Board announced that a review had determined that the case should be reconsidered after a judge made a finding of “irrationality”. The decision does not necessarily mean that the board’s decision will be different next time.
The judge said the decision to release Pitchfork was complicated by the requirement for the board to determine whether his recall to prison in November 2021 after he was released two months previously was correct.
The judge who assessed the justice secretary’s application under the reconsideration mechanism said: “The task of the panel [consisting of two judicial members and a psychologist] considering [Pitchfork’s] release was a particularly complex and challenging one. It cannot have been assisted by the requirement to consider whether the recall was justified, in addition to the substantive issue of rerelease.”
Pitchfork’s minimum term was reduced to 28 years for good behaviour in 2009 and he was released in September 2021. He was recalled for breaching his licence conditions after being accused of approaching young women in the streets. The panel found the recall decision to be flawed because it was based on allegations that were not proved and were based on incorrect information.
A Parole Board spokesperson said: “Whilst the panel had correctly, as required by law, reviewed the appropriateness of Mr Pitchfork’s recall, and found that the decision to recall him was not justified. It then needed to separately consider whether Mr Pitchfork’s continued detention was necessary for the protection of the public.
“However, having considered the application, the judge has granted the secretary of state’s application. The judge considered that the panel had not placed sufficient weight on a number of factors in the evidence, which taken together meant that the decision was irrational.”
In June, announcing the decision to release Pitchfork, the board said that he “had committed shocking, serious offences, causing immeasurable harm to his victims” but the panel concluded that “it was no longer necessary for the protection of the public for Mr Pitchfork to remain confined”.
Costa, the MP for South Leicestershire, the constituency where Pitchfork committed his crimes, wrote to Chalk calling the decision “simply unthinkable” and urging the justice secretary to carry out an “immediate and urgent review”.
In July, Chalk announced he was applying for a review of the decision saying it was “absolutely vital that every lawful step is taken to keep dangerous offenders behind bars”.
