The family of a murdered teenager has hit out after it emerged her killer has moved to an open prison ahead of a potential release.
Darren Pilkington pushed his girlfriend Carly Fairhurst, 19, down the stairs during a late-night row at a house in Higher Ince, Wigan, in January 2006.
She was left with fatal injuries for 12 hours before he called an ambulance.
Carly never regained consciousness and died a week later.
She died in the arms of her devastated mum Sheila, who told The Mirror : “He’s a danger to the public.
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“We’ve been told the only way he’ll never be released is if he kills a third person. How ridiculous is that?”
Pilkington, now 39, was jailed for her manslaughter in 2006.
It was his second manslaughter conviction – having killed a friend in a pub brawl in 2001.
In 2006, he was handed an indeterminate sentence for public protection and was told by a judge he must serve at least three years and 53 days before he was eligible to apply for parole.
He was eventually released ten years into his sentence.
Over the past decade he has been released four times but recalled on each occasion after breaking rules and going on drink and drug binges.
Now Carly’s parents have blasted a decision – approved but yet to be announced – to move him to an open prison, paving the way for his eventual release.
Tearful Sheila, 65, said: “Pilkington will always be a danger to women and everyone else.
“How many chances does he get? A third family has to suffer what we’ve been through so he never walks free.
“The Justice Secretary has already approved his move to an open prison but we now want them to stop it if they can.
“Every moment that he lives and breathes means we are serving a life sentence. As long as he is alive he will never change. He’s always been a bully, a danger to society.”
Pilkington was 15 when he was locked up for beating to death 30-year-old Paul Akister during a fight outside a pub in Wigan.
Carly was his second victim. She started writing to him in prison and hid the friendship from her parents.
When the killer was freed after serving half of a four-year sentence, she moved into a flat with him.
Carly suffered brutal beatings but lied to worried Sheila and her father, Trevor, when they asked about her bruises.
One night in 2006 the lovers had a row and drunken Pilkington lashed out, knocking Carly downstairs.
He covered himself and unconscious Carly with a duvet and fell asleep. Pilkington left it until the next morning before dialling 999 – but by then it was too late.
Carly suffered a fractured skull and brain damage and died six days later after her life support was switched off.
Pilkington was given an indefinite sentence for manslaughter, with a minimum three years.
Retired lorry driver Trevor, 67, said: “When he was jailed for Carly’s death he was jailed for the public protection. The public still needs protecting – even senior officers say he’s still a danger.”
Over the past decade Pilkington has been repeatedly released but consistently breached his licence.
The last time he was moved to an open prison he went on the run, but was caught after five days as a fugitive. On another occasion he was recalled because he hid a secret girlfriend from the authorities.
Last month Pilkington appealed a decision not to release him for a fifth time.
He whined that the decision was 'irrational' because he posed only a 'medium' risk to the public. He claimed he did not need open prison and should walk free instead.
Sheila said: “He will always be a danger to the public. We’ve never been allowed to come to terms with what he did because every few years we have to deal with the thought of him being released.
“We have to write to the Parole Board every time and tell them that he’s not fit for freedom. They don’t have a clue what they are putting us through.”
Pilkington was released last year with a strict condition that he did not enter an exclusion zone covering the whole of Wigan borough and beyond.
But Trevor and Sheila claimed he was thrown back in jail after police picked him up just miles from their home.
Sheila said: “It’s terrifying and it’s insulting. Carly is buried here and one of the big concerns is that he tries to visit her – I don’t want him anywhere near her grave.”
A spokesman for the Parole Board said: “The Parole Board has refused the release of Darren Pilkington but recommended a move to an open conditions prison following an oral hearing in November.
“We will only make a recommendation for open conditions if a Parole Board panel is satisfied that the risk to the public has reduced sufficiently to be manageable in an open prison. A move to open conditions involves testing the prisoner’s readiness for any potential return into the community.
“Prisoners moved to open conditions can be returned to closed conditions if there is concern about their behaviour.
“This was a recommendation only and the Ministry of Justice considers the advice before making the final decision.”
