South Leicestershire MP Alberto Costa has welcomed the Government’s intervention in challenging the release of the convicted child rapist and killer Colin Pitchfork.
The MP recently wrote to the Justice Secretary to seek an ‘immediate and urgent’ review of the decision made by the Parole Board for England & Wales to release Pitchfork on 22nd June – Mr Costa organised a local campaign to oppose the decision by asking residents to write to the Ministry of Justice seeking a challenge to Pitchfork’s release under the Parole Board Reconsideration Mechanism.
Alberto has long campaigned against the release of Colin Pitchfork, who raped and murdered two teenage girls, Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth, in his constituency in 1983 and 1986 respectively. The MP has been highly critical of the Parole Board’s actions in directing Pitchfork for release in September 2021, before he was then recalled to prison a matter of weeks later due to concerns over his behaviour.
Alberto met with the Secretary of State for Justice in March earlier this year, following his question to the Prime Minister in the House of Commons, in which the MP raised serious concerns about the prospect of the Parole Board granting Pitchfork’s release.
Pitchfork, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1988, was previously released by the Parole Board in September 2021 before being recalled to prison two months later for breaching his licence conditions.
Alberto said, “I am very grateful to the Justice Secretary for listening to me and my constituents by challenging the Parole Board’s deeply disappointing decision to release the convicted child rapist and killer Colin Pitchfork. Since I was first elected in 2015, I have been working hard to see that Pitchfork remains in prison and, like many, I was aghast at the recent decision by the Parole Board to release a man who murdered two young girls and who was previously released but then speedily recalled.
Pitchfork’s heinous crimes continue to live long in the memory for my constituents, and the people of South Leicestershire have been hugely concerned and distressed at the prospect of his release, so I am pleased that the Government is standing up for common sense in challenging the Parole Board’s decision. The Parole Board now has a further opportunity to get this decision right and to ensure that Colin Pitchfork stays in prison where he belongs”.
