Justice Secretary Alex Chalk has demanded an urgent meeting with the Parole Board over child rapist and murderer Colin Pitchfork’s latest bid for freedom.
Concern is growing over another “flawed decision” after Pitchfork successfully appealled a decision to keep him behind bars.
And Barbara Ashwork, the mother of one of the killer’s victims, said “I’d throw away the key” as she revealed the fresh anguish she is facing.
A Government source said: “It is deeply concerning that having made one flawed decision, the Parole Board have made another, causing immense distress to the families of Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth.
“They are again left with no certainty and the Lord Chancellor has sought an urgent meeting with the Parole Board.”
Mrs Ashworth, the mother of 15-year-old Dawn Ashworth, revealed her anguish as she declared: “Words fail me now.
“He seems to want to fight no matter what.
“I just don’t know where to go next to be honest.
“He’s killed two schoolgirls. I know what I’d do, I’d throw away the key.”
Pitchfork was jailed for life with a minimum term of 30 years in 1988, later reduced to 28 years, for raping and strangling 15-year-olds Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth in 1983 and 1986 respectively.
The Parole Board met last year to decide whether he could be released and ruled in December he should not be freed.
But Pitchfork applied for the decision to be reconsidered and this has been granted, the Parole Board said on Monday.
The decision provoked widespread fury within Government, with Justice Secretary Alex Chalk demanding an urgent meeting with the Parole Board.
It means he will face another parole hearing with a different panel of board members to decide if he can be freed from jail.
In a statement, the Parole Board said: “The decision refusing Mr Pitchfork’s release was eligible for reconsideration under the Parole Board Rules.
“This meant that the panel’s decision was provisional and that either Mr Pitchfork or the Secretary of State could make an application for reconsideration on the grounds that the decision not to release Mr Pitchfork had been irrational, procedurally unfair and/or there had been an error of law.
“Mr Pitchfork made an application for reconsideration in December 2023 and this was considered and granted by a reconsideration member of the Parole Board in February 2024.”
