Schoolgirl Naomi Smith's killer Edwin Hopkins will be given chance to be freed again
The killer of Nuneaton school girl Naomi Smith has been given the chance to bid for his freedom again. The Parole Board for England and Wales has confirmed to CoventryLive that a hearing will be held to determine if Edwin Hopkins will be freed from prison again.
We revealed that he was back behind bars just 23 days after he was released for breaching his strict conditions of release. But he made a bid to be freed again and a Member Case Assessment (MCA) was held.
The Parole Board has told us that the results of the MCA have now been revealed. There were two options available, that the case can be concluded on the papers or it requires an oral hearing.
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The MCA has directed that an oral hearing has to be held. The Parole Board explained that the next stage is for him to be listed for the hearing. This, it says, is not likely to be for several months.
It is still not known which of Hopkins' strict conditions attached to his release were broken. But CoventryLive saw the list and it included not coming back to the Nuneaton area or engaging with children.
Hopkins was convicted of the schoolgirl's brutal murder in a playground off the Brett Hall Estate in Ansley, close to where she lived, in January 1997.
He was sentenced to a minimum of 18 years. He ended up serving more after initial attempts for parole failed.
But, even to this day, he maintains his innocence, according to parole board papers, despite DNA evidence being used by police to bring him to justice.