A devastated mother, whose daughter was murdered by Colin Pitchfork in 1986, is pleading with the Parole Board to keep the killer behind bars as she warns "he will kill again."
The 63-year-old is on the eve of launching his latest bid for freedom, two years after he was controversially granted parole. Barbara Ashford, who lost her daughter, Dawn at just 15, is doing everything in her power to ensure the board doesn't make the same mistake twice.
She said: “I just want him locked away forever – it’s an insult that he’s even been given an option to come out. It’s devastated my life. I’ve not only lost my only daughter, but he’s also robbed me of having grandchildren.”
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The criminal received 30 years in prison for the murder of Dawn, and 15-year-old Lynda Mann.
In a decision that caused uproar, he was previously released on licence. However, that call was made instantly regrettable as within weeks of being in the outside world, he approached a young woman and was subsequently put back in his cell.
Despite showing zero remorse for his abhorrent actions, he's received a two-day hearing, where he'll fight for his release again.
Speaking to The Daily Mirror, Barbara said: "He killed two innocent girls and started stalking the moment he was released last time, so how can he now suddenly be innocent?"
In 1983, After walking home from a babysitting shift, Lynda was attacked by Pitchfork, who raped and strangled her to death in Narborough, Leics. Three years later, he did the same thing to Dawn in Enderby.
Subsequently, the police demanded that 5000 men provide DNA samples. However, utilising his evil mind, he managed to convince a mate to do it for him.
However, his pal soon put an end to the scheme after being caught bragging about the ploy. Pitchfork was arrested in 1987 and given 30 years behind bars, becoming the first person to be convicted of murder via DNA evidence.
Barbara recalled: “I remember it like it was yesterday. It happened in broad daylight – it was four o’clock in the afternoon during the summer holidays. Our lives changed forever in that moment. Dawn had so many ambitions, and her death has left a void. I don’t want anyone else to suffer like me.”
In spite of the harrowing nature surrounding what happened to her daughter, Barbara tries to remain positive, explaining: “I bring out the last Mother’s Day card she made me every year. She wrote in bold letters across the top, ‘It’s great to have a mum like you’. He’s taken something away that I can never replace, but nobody can take the memories away from me.”
Tory Robert Buckland, who played the role of justice secretary when Pitchfork was freed two years ago, claimed that he: "Never should have been released in the first place."
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