Monster who raped and murdered schoolgirls could be freed this summer

A monster who raped and strangled two schoolgirls could be released from prison this summer.

Colin Pitchfork was jailed for life after raping and killing Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth in Leicestershire in 1983 and 1986. For many years, Lynda's sister Rebecca Eastwood, from Anfield, has campaigned to keep him behind bars for the rest of his life.

Pitchfork was briefly released in September 2021, after his 30-year minimum term was cut by two years in 2009. But he was recalled to prison two months later after approaching young women in the street.

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After appealing in December 2023, the Parole Board decided he would not be freed from prison after a review at that time. Reacting to his previous release in 2021 of Colin Pitchfork, Barbara Ashworth, mother of Dawn Ashworth, told the PA news agency: "Well it was on the books that he was going to be released, but I don't think he should be breathing the same air as us.

The devastated mum said: "It goes without saying that life should have meant life in his case, because he said he was guilty of the offences, the murders of both the girls... and he did a lot more besides."

The Parole Board has today said double child killer Pitchfork's next parole hearing will take place in public this July.

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