Notorious Wigan double killer's latest quest for freedom is shunted into next year

Carly Fairhurst’s parents had been on edge waiting for the results of a new parole hearing for Darren Pilkington for the last fortnight.

But when the email arrived, it wasn’t tell them whether he was being freed or kept behind bars, but to say that he will now only be dealt with in January at the earliest.

Pilkington, jailed for the separate manslaughters of Paul Akister and later 19-year-old Carly, has been in and out of prison for licence breaches and jail breaks since serving 10 years for causing the latter’s death by pushing her downstairs and not calling paramedics until hours afterwards.

His latest misdemeanor was to escape from an open prison on April 26 last year – coincidentally Carly’s birthday – only to be recaptured in Horwich the following month.

The 40-year-old was initially told he was due to get a parole hearing in May but that got bumped to early August. And now Trevor and Sheila Fairhurst have been informed that he won’t be getting a sniff of further freedom until at least the beginning of 2024.

Trevor, who lives in Hindley, said: “We’re elated. The longer he stays behind bars the better.

"We don’t know whether the hearing went ahead the other week only for it to be postponed for some reason, or whether it just never took place. Either way, we are pleased.”

The Fairhursts have faced a remorseless series of parole hearings and victim impact statements since Pilkington was just two years into his jail sentence for killing Carly in 2006.

They say that he should be permanently incarcerated but, if the authorities aren’t in a position or prepared to make that happen, they should have him electronically tagged for the rest of his life because he has shown no sign of rehabilitating.

After several licence breaches, Pilkington was put back behind bars for the latest time last year after absconding from Kirkham open prison in Lancashire.

He was given a six-month custodial term which he has served, but he remains subject to the terms of the indeterminate sentence system (since abolished) under which he was dealt with for causing Carly’s death, which means the parole board can still detain him for much longer if it sees fit.