Oral Answers to Questions

Luke Evans Excerpts

Tuesday 29th June 2021 Commons Chamber

[Dr Luke Evans (Bosworth) (Con)]

If reports are to be believed, my right hon. and learned Friend has used the reconsideration mechanism to re-refer the double murderer and child rapist Colin Pitchfork to the Parole Board. Can he confirm that is true? If it is, I thank him for listening to me, my hon. Friend the Member for South Leicestershire (Alberto Costa) and the people of Leicestershire, who still feel that crime vehemently. Does he agree that the legislation was brought in exactly for heinous crimes such as the Worboys case?

[Robert Buckland]

I thank my hon. Friend for speaking so strongly on behalf of his constituents. Colin Pitchfork’s offences were the gravest of crimes, and the families of Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth still live with the pain that he caused. The independent Parole Board’s role is to assess whether he is safe for release, rather than whether he has been punished enough. I understand why this decision has affected public confidence. It has been reviewed by officials in my Department, and we found arguable grounds that the decision was irrational, so I have asked the Parole Board to reconsider it using the mechanism that my hon. Friend rightly identified.