UK Justice Forum 🇬🇧
News and current affairs => A look at the news stories currently making the headlines. => Topic started by: Venturi Swirl on July 13, 2021, 05:29:16 PM
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Colin Pitchfork has been cleared for release by the parole board and a government appeal to keep him in prison has failed.
A reminder of his crimes:
On 21 November 1983, 15-year-old Lynda Mann took a shortcut on her way home from babysitting instead of taking her normal route home. She did not return and her parents and neighbours spent the night searching for her. The next morning, she was found raped and strangled on a deserted footpath known locally as the Black Pad. Using forensic science techniques available at the time, police linked a semen sample taken from her body to a person with type A blood and an enzyme profile that matched only 10% of males. With no other leads or evidence, the case was left open.
On 31 July 1986, a second 15-year-old girl, Dawn Ashworth, left her home to visit a friend's house. Her parents expected her to return at 9:30 pm; when she failed to do so they called police to report her missing. Two days later, her body was found in a wooded area near a footpath called Ten Pound Lane. She had been beaten, savagely raped and strangled. The modus operandi matched that of the first attack, and semen samples revealed the same blood type.
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Colin Pitchfork has been cleared for release by the parole board and a government appeal to keep him in prison has failed.
A reminder of his crimes:
On 21 November 1983, 15-year-old Lynda Mann took a shortcut on her way home from babysitting instead of taking her normal route home. She did not return and her parents and neighbours spent the night searching for her. The next morning, she was found raped and strangled on a deserted footpath known locally as the Black Pad. Using forensic science techniques available at the time, police linked a semen sample taken from her body to a person with type A blood and an enzyme profile that matched only 10% of males. With no other leads or evidence, the case was left open.
On 31 July 1986, a second 15-year-old girl, Dawn Ashworth, left her home to visit a friend's house. Her parents expected her to return at 9:30 pm; when she failed to do so they called police to report her missing. Two days later, her body was found in a wooded area near a footpath called Ten Pound Lane. She had been beaten, savagely raped and strangled. The modus operandi matched that of the first attack, and semen samples revealed the same blood type.
I don't like the thought of Colin Pitchfork being released, I have to admit. However, I suppose the parole board know more than I do !
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I don't like the thought of Colin Pitchfork being released, I have to admit. However, I suppose the parole board know more than I do !
Undoubtedly they think they know the man no longer poses a risk to society but they can never really know for certain and so there is always a possibility that this man (who is still only 61) could re-offend. I really can’t imagine what sort of rehabilitation a man undergos in prison to turn him from a predatory violent rapist and murderer of young girls into a decent law abiding citizen. Do we just have to take his word for it that he is no longer a danger to girls? What measures will be taken to keep tabs on him? Will he be given a new identity and if so what about the rights of others,not to have anything to do with this man if they so choose?
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The law has changed since Pitchfork was convicted. He would now be serving a whole life tariff and no one would be complaining that he didn't deserve it.
I can't help but feel that if he truly had remorse and understanding of his crimes and the impact on his victims families, he wouldn't even apply for parole and accept his fate.
So no, he probably shouldn't be released IMO but this is a country of laws and he has served the sentence he was given and satisfied the criteria of the parole board. He may even spend his days giving something back to society so we just have to accept it.
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He has served his sentence. He has clearly behaved himself very well for the past 30 odd years.
I don't think any of us should want to live in a society that persecutes people for past indiscretions when they have paid their legal dues.
Obviously, if Pitchfork does go on to murder again I might change my opinion, but equally if he pursues a life of religious fulfilment for the rest of his days then serious consideration should be given to releasing more rapists & murderers, provided they promise to behave themselves.
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He has served his sentence. He has clearly behaved himself very well for the past 30 odd years.
I don't think any of us should want to live in a society that persecutes people for past indiscretions when they have paid their legal dues.
Obviously, if Pitchfork does go on to murder again I might change my opinion, but equally if he pursues a life of religious fulfilment for the rest of his days then serious consideration should be given to releasing more rapists & murderers, provided they promise to behave themselves.
Brutal rape and murder of 15 year old girls = indiscretions? Hmm. That’s not a word I would use for this man’s crimes.
Frankly I don’t really see what is so different about his crimes compared to those of, say, Ian Brady, I guess the difference is that Pitchfork has managed to convince the parole board that he is a reformed character. Let’s hope that is true, though only time will tell and I’d prefer it if he chose Spam’s neighbourhood in which to settle rather than mine.
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Brutal rape and murder of 15 year old girls = indiscretions? Hmm. That’s not a word I would use for this man’s crimes.
Frankly I don’t really see what is so different about his crimes compared to those of, say, Ian Brady, I guess the difference is that Pitchfork has managed to convince the parole board that he is a reformed character. Let’s hope that is true, though only time will tell and I’d prefer it if he chose Spam’s neighbourhood in which to settle rather than mine.
Yes, I deliberately down played the serious nature of his crimes because clearly his original sentence didn't account for his crimes seriously either, so why should I.
There should be no parole for murder, the nearest murderers should ever get to being released is a supervised day trip on their 100th birthday.
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Yes, I deliberately down played the serious nature of his crimes because clearly his original sentence didn't account for his crimes seriously either, so why should I.
There should be no parole for murder, the nearest murderers should ever get to being released is a supervised day trip on their 100th birthday.
Now I don’t know whether you’re being serious or not as you appear to be contradicting your previous position. I think that in some cases parole for murder can be considered, but in cases of pre-meditated sexual murder, particularly of children - no way Jose. In any case I think the Parole Board should be held jointly accountable for any future serious crimes committed by paroled murderers, which might make them think even longer and harder about whether or not such a criminal is fit for release.
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Now I don’t know whether you’re being serious or not as you appear to be contradicting your previous position. I think that in some cases parole for murder can be considered, but in cases of pre-meditated sexual murder, particularly of children - no way Jose. In any case I think the Parole Board should be held jointly accountable for any future serious crimes committed by paroled murderers, which might make them think even longer and harder about whether or not such a criminal is fit for release.
I disagree.
I can't think of a single situation where a murderer should ever be released.
And I don't see why child murder should be considered more serious.
That's blatant ageism against older victims, as if their lives are worth less & I don't think that's in keeping with modern social justice values.
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I disagree.
I can't think of a single situation where a murderer should ever be released.
And I don't see why should child murder should be considered more serious.
That's blatant ageism against older victims, as if their lives are worth less & I don't think that's in keeping with modern social justice values.
OK bye.
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OK bye.
I can't make sense of your idea.
Murder someone on their 16th birthday = future chance of parole.
Murder them the day before their 16th = no chance of parole.
That seems a bit ridiculous to me.
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I can't make sense of your idea.
Murder someone on their 16th birthday = future chance of parole.
Murder them the day before their 16th = no chance of parole.
That seems a bit ridiculous to me.
That is not what I said, and because you are deliberately misrepresenting what I said and because you are just trolling I have nothing more to say to you on this thread, so bye.
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"I think that in some cases parole for murder can be considered, but in cases of pre-meditated sexual murder, particularly of children - no way Jose."
......
Man (a) breaks into Buckingham palace, rapes & strangles to death her 95 year old highness in a premeditated attack.
The same night.....
Man (b) breaks into Kensington palace, rapes & strangles to death the 7 year old prince George in a premeditated attack.
......
Can anyone explain to me why man (b)'s crime should be considered worse?
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For anyone reading this thread not familiar with Spam’s posting style, he takes others’ posts and twists them into something else for his own trollish amusement. Anyone with a modicum of intelligence will see that my view as expressed above is no parole for anyone committing pre-meditated murder. The rape and murder of children is in my view an especially cynical and evil act, and it’s a view shared by most decent people, of that I have no doubt.
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For anyone reading this thread not familiar with Spam’s posting style, he takes others’ posts and twists them into something else for his own trollish amusement. Anyone with a modicum of intelligence will see that my view as expressed above is no parole for anyone committing pre-meditated murder. The rape and murder of children is in my view an especially cynical and evil act, and it’s a view shared by most decent people, of that I have no doubt.
Why?
Why is murdering a child especially worse than murdering an adult or an OAP ?
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Why?
Why is murdering a child especially worse than murdering an adult or an OAP ?
As a matter of law, i don't think it is.
But, come on-----cutting short a young , innocent life?
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As a matter of law, i don't think it is.
But, come on-----cutting short a young , innocent life?
Don’t feed it, really.
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As a matter of law, i don't think it is.
But, come on-----cutting short a young , innocent life?
I don't see the difference with cutting short an older innocent life myself.
I don't think it's any less terrible to murder someone the day before their 16th/18th birthday than it is to do it one day after.
Presumably, for some, the younger someone is, the more dreadful the crime.
Which must make abortion the worst type of murder possible.
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Let’s revisit what I actually said shall we?
“ I think that in some cases parole for murder can be considered, but in cases of pre-meditated sexual murder, particularly of children - no way Jose”
So I was talking about pre-meditated sexual murder cases, not just any old murder and not abortion, so let’s get that straight for one. I mean some people would suggest that the rape of a baby was by some measure worse than the rape of an 80 year old woman. I expect the resident troll will disagree as he seems to support the idea of legslising paedophilia.
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Let’s revisit what I actually said shall we?
“ I think that in some cases parole for murder can be considered, but in cases of pre-meditated sexual murder, particularly of children - no way Jose”
So I was talking about pre-meditated sexual murder cases, not just any old murder and not abortion, so let’s get that straight for one. I mean some people would suggest that the rape of a baby was by some measure worse than the rape of an 80 year old woman. I expect the resident troll will disagree as he seems to support the idea of legslising paedophilia.
Yes, I did cover that it was premeditated sexual murder in question with my own question regarding Her Majesty & Prince George, which I never got an answer for.
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Yes, I did cover that it was premeditated sexual murder in question with my own question regarding Her Majesty & Prince George, which I never got an answer for.
Troll questions don’t merit replies.
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Troll questions don’t merit replies.
The answer is that George's killer should never get parole because George was so young & innocent.
Her Majesty's killer however should be eligible for parole in about 25 years because, let's face it, she was 95 & didn't have much longer left anyway.
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and that dear reader is why you should never feed the troll.
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I believe, in general, that convicted people should have another chance to lead a normal life, even if they were guilty of murder. However, that should not (IMO) apply if there is any chance that the person is still a danger to the public, or a danger to certain members of the public (eg their own families).
I don't know the statistics, but I would imagine some "lifers" convicted of murder have been released, and have not reoffended. In those cases, prison has done its job----punishment and rehabilitation. I see nothing wrong with that.
However, there are others who have been released and have gone on to reoffend. That is the overwhelming problem. Parole boards, like everybody else, can get it disastrously wrong.
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They have said his restrictions and monitoring even without the SOR would be very strict.
Having spoken to people on life licence I would hope his monitoring is different to theirs.
I agree though some murderers have successfully been reintegrated back into society and can give something back.
Not a decision I would want to make.
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They have said his restrictions and monitoring even without the SOR would be very strict.
Having spoken to people on life licence I would hope his monitoring is different to theirs.
I agree though some murderers have successfully been reintegrated back into society and can give something back.
Not a decision I would want to make.
Yes, Leslie Grantham was a murderer who was reintegrated into society and gave us "Dirty Den". He remained dirty until the end too. That said I think there is a difference between the murder he committed (which I believe was during an armed robbery) and the murders committed by Colin Pitchfork. Did Grantham plan murder and to cause as much terror and pain to his victim before committing the murder? No. I think Grantham was bad, but Pitchfork was (is) much worse.
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So you could say Leslie Grantham was an ex-murderer.
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Yes, Leslie Grantham was a murderer who was reintegrated into society and gave us "Dirty Den". He remained dirty until the end too. That said I think there is a difference between the murder he committed (which I believe was during an armed robbery) and the murders committed by Colin Pitchfork. Did Grantham plan murder and to cause as much terror and pain to his victim before committing the murder? No. I think Grantham was bad, but Pitchfork was (is) much worse.
I agree Pitchfork is much worse. The feelings are running so high regarding his crimes it does make you wonder where they could safely house him
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I agree Pitchfork is much worse. The feelings are running so high regarding his crimes it does make you wonder where they could safely house him
Next door to Wonderfulspam hopefully.
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So you could say Leslie Grantham was an ex-murderer.
Only inasmuch as you could say that the Norwegian Blue is an ex-parrot.