‘He killed my daughter… and will kill again’: Mother of teen victim Dawn Ashworth pleads for Colin Pitchfork to be kept behind bars as double murder makes case for freedom
- The two-day Parole Board hearing will take place today
The heartbroken mother of teen victim Dawn Ashworth has warned ‘he will kill again’ and pleaded for Colin Pitchfork to be kept behind bars as he makes his case for freedom today.
Barbara Ashworth’s 15-year-old daughter was killed by Pitchfork in 1986. The double murderer was jailed for life with a minimum of 30 years for killing Dawn and Lynda Mann – who was also 15-years-old.
Two years ago the killer was controversially granted parole – only for it to be revoked just two months later after he was caught approaching a young girl.
Now Ms Ashworth, 77, has urged the parole board not to make the same mistake again at the two-day hearing.
She told The Sun: ‘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.’
Teen victim Dawn Ashworth (pictured) was murdered by Colin Pitchfork in the village of Enderby in 1986
Double murderer Colin Pitchfork was jailed for life with a minimum of 30 years for killing Dawn Ashcroft and Lynda Mann
The parole decision in 2021 drew criticism from the victims’ families who said they had been let down by the system.
READ MORE: The disturbing truth behind sex killer Colin Pitchfork’s return to jail: Urgent calls for parole reform after predator ‘sidled up to’ teenage women in the street
Although he did not commit any new offences, the ‘concerning’ behaviour was deemed so troubling that Pitchfork was sent back to jail for breaching the terms of his release on licence.
Tory Robert Buckland, who was justice secretary when Pitchfork was freed in 2021, said he should ‘never have been released in the first place’.
Pitchfork shocked Britain after raping and strangling Lynda in Narborough, Leicestershire, in November 1983.
He later murdered Dawn in the nearby village of Enderby three years later, before he became the first murderer to be convicted using DNA evidence.
Police had asked 5,000 men to provide a DNA sample but Pitchfork persuaded a friend of his to give one on his behalf. He was caught when the friend was heard gloating about it.
In police interviews, the killer later admitted exposing himself to over 1,000 women throughout his lifetime.
Pitchfork raped and strangled Lynda in Narborough, Leics, as she walked home from babysitting in November 1983.
Nearly three years later he raped and strangled Dawn in neighbouring Enderby less than a mile away.
Barbara Ashworth’s (pictured) 15-year-old daughter was killed by Colin Pitchfork in 1986. She has warned ‘he will kill again’ and pleaded for him to be kept behind bars
Ms Ashcroft, who now lives in Cornwall, said she remembers it like it was yesterday.
She added: ‘Our lives changed for ever 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.’
‘He’s taken something away that I can never replace, but nobody can take the memories away from me,’ she said.
According to The Sun, Ms Ashcroft will not be attending the hearing due to health struggles.
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