My daughter died in my arms: her ‘dangerous’ killer must never be released

The family of a murdered teenage girl has struck back after they learned her killer had moved to an open prison ahead of a possible release.

Darren Pilkington pushed his 19-year-old girlfriend Carly Fairhurst down the stairs during a late-night fight at a house in Higher Ince, Wigan, in January 2006.

She was left with fatal injuries for 12 hours before he called an ambulance.

Carly never regained consciousness and died a week later.

He died in the arms of his devastated mother Sheila, who told The Mirror: “He is a danger to the public.

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“We have been told that the only way he will never be released is if he kills a third person. How ridiculous is that?

Pilkington, now 39, was jailed for her involuntary manslaughter in 2006.

It was his second conviction for involuntary manslaughter: having killed a friend in a pub fight in 2001.

In 2006, he received an indeterminate sentence of public protection and was told by a judge that he had to serve at least three years and 53 days before he could apply for parole.

He was finally released ten years after his sentence.

Over the past decade, he has been released four times, but was called back each time after breaking the rules and getting drunk on drugs and alcohol.

Now, Carly’s parents have criticized an approved but yet to be announced decision to move him to an open prison, paving the way for his eventual release.

Through tears, Sheila, 65, said: “Pilkington will always be a danger to women and everyone else.

“How many chances do you have? A third family has to suffer what we have been through so that they never go free.

“The Secretary of Justice has already approved his transfer to an open prison, but now we want them to stop him if they can.

“Every moment that he lives and breathes means that we are serving a life sentence. As long as he is alive he will never change. He has always been a bully, a danger to society.”

Pilkington was 15 when he was jailed for beating 30-year-old Paul Akister to death during a fight outside a pub in Wigan.

Carly was his second victim. She began to write to him in prison and hid the friendship of her parents from her.

When the killer was released after serving half of a four-year sentence, she moved into a flat with him.

Carly suffered brutal beatings, but she lied to worry Sheila and her father, Trevor, when they asked her about her bruises.

One night in 2006, the lovers had a fight and a drunken Pilkington lunged at her, knocking Carly down the stairs.

He covered himself and the unconscious Carly with a comforter and fell asleep. Pilkington left it until the next morning before dialing 999, but by then it was too late.

Carly suffered a skull fracture and brain damage and died six days later after her life support was disconnected.

Pilkington received an indefinite sentence for involuntary manslaughter, with a minimum of three years.

Retired trucker Trevor, 67, said: “When he was jailed for Carly’s death, he was jailed for public protection. The public still needs protection, even higher officials say it’s still a danger.”

Over the last decade, Pilkington has been repeatedly released, but consistently breached his license.

The last time he was transferred to an open prison he was on the run, but was caught after five days as a fugitive. On another occasion he was remembered because he hid a secret girlfriend from the authorities.

Last month, Pilkington appealed a decision not to release him for the fifth time.

He complained that the decision was “irrational” because it only posed a “medium” risk to the public. He claimed that he did not need an open prison and that he should walk free instead.

Sheila said: “He will always be a danger to the public. We’ve never been allowed to come to terms with what he did because every few years we have to deal with the idea of ​​him being released.

“We have to write to the Parole Board every time and tell them that he is not fit for release. They have no idea what they are putting us through.”

Pilkington was released last year on the strict condition that he not enter an exclusion zone that covered the entire Wigan district and beyond.

But Trevor and Sheila said he was returned to jail after police stopped him just a few miles from his home.

Sheila said: “It’s terrifying and it’s insulting. Carly is buried here and one of her big worries is that she tries to visit her, I don’t want him near her grave”.

A Parole Board spokesman said: “The Parole Board has refused the release of Darren Pilkington but recommended a transfer to an open prison following an oral hearing in November.

“We will only make a recommendation for open conditions if a Parole Board panel is satisfied that the risk to the public has been reduced enough to be manageable in an open prison. A move to open conditions involves testing the readiness of the prisoner for any possible return to the community.

“Prisoners transferred to open conditions can return to closed conditions if there is concern about their behavior.

“This was only a recommendation and the Ministry of Justice considers the advice before making the final decision.”