With the recent release of child killer Colin Pitchfork, lots of questions have been raised about if he should have been released, and if it is safe for him to be released back into the community. There have been instances where killers have been released and gone to live a completely normal life, such as Mary Bell, but there have been plenty of others who have gone on to re-offend. Here are five of those cases…
1. Albert Flick
In 2018, 77-year-old Albert Flick killed 48-year-old Kimberly Dobbie in Maine, USA. He had previously been released from prison because he was deemed ‘too old to kill’.
He had served 25 years in prison after the 1975 stabbing of his wife, Sandra. Released in 2004, Flick was then convicted of assaulting two women in 2010. A judge, believing he would be too old to commit any more violent crimes, sentenced him to just four years in prison.
After being released in 2014, Flick became infatuated with Kimberly Dobbie, following her around town. He stabbed her 14 times, penetrating her heart and lung, all in front of her 11-year-old twins. He was sentenced to life in prison.
2. John Straffen
John Straffen killed three children in Bath, England in the Summer of 1951. He was once Britain’s longest-serving prisoner, having spent 55 years in jail until he died in 2007. Ian Brady is the only British convict to be imprisoned for longer.
After killing 6-year-old Brenda Goddard, Straffen then killed Cicely Batstone, 9, three weeks later. He had strangled them both. After being arrested, he was found to be insane and unfit to stand trial, so was sent to Broadmoor.
After a few months, John Straffen managed to escape from the hospital and was recaptured 7 miles away a few hours later. The next day, 5-year-old Linda Bowyer was found dead. She had been strangled. After this, Straffen was found fit to stand trial and sent to prison for the murder without any chance of being released. He died in prison.
3. Andrew Dawson
In July 2010, John David Matthews, 66, was found dead in his flat in Derby, England. Five days later, his neighbour, Paul Hancock, 58, was also found dead. They had both been stabbed. Matthews 18 times, and Hancock 22 times.
Andrew Dawson, 48, admitted to murdering the two men just weeks after moving into the same building. Andrew Dawson was on license at the time, having previously been given a life sentence in 1982 after killing a 91-year-old man in Lancashire.
Andrew Dawson described himself as an Angel of Mercy. In 2011 he was jailed and will not be released again. His brother, Malcolm Dawson, said, “They should have left him in there the first time.”
4. Steven Pratt
Steven Pratt from New Jersey, USA, was just 15 years old when he shot and killed his next-door neighbour, Micheal Anderson. He served 30 years in a maximum security facility before being released in 2014.
Upon his release, he moved back to Atlantic City, where his 64-year-old mother, Gwendolyn Pratt, lived. Two days after his release from prison, she was found dead from blunt force head injuries in her home.
Steven Pratt was arrested for the murder and told police, “I don’t want a trial. I’m guilty.” In February 2017, Steven Pratt pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
5. Desmond Lee
Desmond Lee from Yorkshire, England, spent 14 years behind bars for the murder of 46-year-old Shirley Carr, whom he smothered to death in 1989 when he was just a teenager. He was released on life sentence in September 2004.
In 2009, less than five years after his release, Desmond Lee murdered 51-year-old Christopher Pratt. Lee killed him by breaking his voice box and a bone in his neck. He claimed it happened when he leaned over Mr Pratt during sex to get drugs and accidentally crushed his neck. After killing Christopher Pratt, Desmond Lee used Pratt’s credit and debit cards to pay off a phone bill and order alcohol and food for a party. He also attempted to buy over £1000 worth of furniture.
After murdering Pratt, Lee dumped the body on Scammonden Moors. Lee was found guilty of murder and handed a ‘whole life’ order, meaning he will never get out of prison.
Sources:
https://www.somersetlive.co.uk/news/somerset-news/horrifying-true-story-child-killer-2353561
https://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/story-behind-prisoner-who-escaped-18526908
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/worst-worst-midland-killers-evil-20587936
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-14189216
https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/local-news/horrific-murder-no-motive-crackpot-19116407
https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/murderer-guilty-second-time-will-die-jail-1977548
