Notorious Wigan double killer moves to cushier prison - again.

Trevor and Sheila Fairhurst were first informed that thug Darren Pilkington was going to be transferred to an open jail last November as part of his SIXTH bid for freedom after serving time for the Hindley 19-year-old’s manslaughter and then further spells in prison for licence breaches.

But only on March 16 was it confirmed that the 39-year-old, who previously served another manslaughter sentence for his part in the death of Hindley man Paul Akister, has now moved to an unspecified category D institution.

It means fresh worry and heartache for the Fairhursts who fear that Pilkington remains a threat and will keep re-offending.

In fact the last time he was in an open prison he went AWOL and was caught in Wigan – which has a strict exclusion zone around it preventing his entry – only a short distance from his victim’s families’ homes.

And this endless “revolving door” of arrest, prison, parole, breach, repeat means Mr and Mrs Fairhurst can never put the case to the back of their mind, because they are constantly wondering what he is up to when at large and then having to produce victim impact statements whenever he bids for freedom again.

They were even doing that little more than a year into his initial jail term because Pilkington was incarcerated under the now defunct and discredited “minimum sentence” policy which meant yearly parole hearings.

And the latest development only compounds the Fairhursts’ anger and frustration.

Mr Fairhurst said: “We’re the ones with the life sentence – not him.

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"We are totally disgusted by the whole process. Pilkington is an incurable criminal who should be locked up forever but he keeps being given chance after chance.

"The last time he was in an open prison he absconded on Carly’s birthday and flouted the exclusion zone by coming to Wigan.

"He is simply incapable of behaving himself and we are caught in this revolving door of him being arrested, downgraded to easier prisons, released, re-offending and being arrested again, all the while we are worrying what’s going to happen next.

"It is impossible to get any closure as this carries on.”

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