Murderer and child rapist Colin Pitchfork should remain in prison because he is at too much risk of being released, a parole board has said. He is currently serving life sentence for raping and strangling 15-year-old Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth in 1983 and 1986. Pitchfork is the first man to be convicted in the UK on the basis of DNA evidence. He was released in September 2021, but was recalled two months later for accosting a young woman on the street. The Parole Board said this summer that the decision to lock him up again was flawed and no longer necessary for public safety. It recommended him for release, but Dawn Ashworth's mother called it "diabolical" and the justice secretary asked the board to reconsider. The Parole Board has now decided it would be too risky to release him back into the community. It also said he shouldn't be allowed to move to an open prison. The panel said: "After considering the circumstances of his offending, the progress made while in custody and on licence, and the evidence presented at the hearing, the panel was not satisfied that release at this point would be safe for the protection of the public." It said Pitchfork needed to "complete further work to address the identified risk factors in his case". Pitchfork was sentenced to a minimum of 30 years in 1988 - later cut to 28 years. He could be freed in two years' time however, when the Parole Board will look at his case again.