PARENTS' FURY: Wigan double killer's licence period to be drastically reduced on release

Darren Pilkington was jailed for 19-year-old Carly Fairhurst’s manslaughter in 2006 and at that time a court system was in place where he received an Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentence, part of its requirements being that after serving his time behind bars he would be monitored for 10 years. Any licence breaches during that period, including entering an exclusion zone encompassing Wigan borough or committing further offences, mean a return to prison.

But in what seems to be an effort to shrink the prison population, the Government has now announced its intention to cut the IPP licence period to just three years.

Carly’s parents Trevor and Sheila were informed of the move in a letter from the Ministry of Justice this week which acknowledges that the news was likely to cause upset.

The now 40-year-old convict, who was also imprisoned for the 2000 manslaughter of Hindley man Paul Akister, served 10 years for taking Carly’s life but since then has been in and out of jail for various licence breaches and was most recently incarcerated again for going on the run from a low security prison.

Each time he is back in custody and then bidding for freedom, the Fairhursts say they are “put through the mill” of parole hearings, victim impact statements and worrying what he is going to do next time he is released.

Now they say they have even more to worry about because if he managed to keep his nose clean for three years all the restrictions on him would cease.

Trevor said: “We are nothing short of disgusted. We have said repeatedly that Pilkington should never be let out of prison again because he is clearly incapable of obeying the law, and now they make it easier for him to stay out.

"I guess this IPP licence reduction plan is aimed at reducing the prison population but it doesn’t give much thought to victims and their families.

"The only consolation has been some advice we have received from a police friend of ours who pointed out that while 10 years is a long time to be on licence, so is three and that Pilkington has demonstrated on numerous occasions that he can’t keep out of trouble for three months let alone three years, so we should stop worrying about it and get on with our lives.”

Pilkington and Carly were dating after his prison release for the Akister manslaughter when he pushed her downstairs during a row at a house they were minding and then left her all night with serious injuries before ringing 999. She died several days later.

His next parole hearing is set to take place in February. The Fairhursts recently welcomed moves to make certain such procedures public if they are in the interests of justice. They say his case fits the bill perfectly.

The new legislation is expected to come in next summer. It will mean that the parole board reviews an offender’s case after three years with the open to end the licence or extend it. At present the licence for IPP prisoners must last 10 years.

If it has been five or more years since the offender’s first release and they have spent the last two years continuously in the community, then they will have their IPP licence terminated without the need for a review.