Double child killer Colin Pitchfork will be kept off the sex offenders register when he is released from prison, causing outrage among his victims' families. Pitchfork can dodge the sex offenders list because of a legal loophole which dictates that it cannot include anyone convicted of sex crimes before 1997. Following a hearing in March, the Parole Board ruled he was 'suitable for release', despite this being denied in 2016 and 2018. But the Parole Board announced the application had been 'refused'. Ex-Tory leader Michael Howard, who created the sex offender register, said it would be very ­difficult in law to add Pitchfork retrospectively.

Source: Daily Mail July 18, 2021 11:03 UTC