‘Coronation Street’ rapist moved to open prison after bid for early release
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The “Coronation Street” rapist, who was handed 13 life sentences for his crimes, is to be allowed to transfer to an open prison as a step towards being freed on parole.
The parole board announced on Wednesday that Andrew Barlow, dubbed the “Coronation Street” rapist because of the way he attacked a string of victims in their own terraced homes, would not be released on parole.
It said there was still a “very high risk” of Barlow, 68, from Bolton in Lancashire, committing a sexual offence and “serious harm” towards other people.
However, he had made sufficient progress in his rehabilitation that he could be moved to an open prison, which would show he could be trusted before a potential release back into the community.
The Justice Secretary can block a move to an open prison by rejecting the parole board recommendation, making it one of the first decisions that the incoming secretary will make after the election.
Barlow was once Britain’s most wanted man after a string of sexual assaults on women and girls across five counties during the 1980s. He spent just 34 years in jail after being convicted of 11 rapes, three attempted rapes, indecent assault and using a firearm to resist arrest.
He was subsequently found guilty in 2010 and in 2017 of two further rapes, which were committed in 1981 and 1982.
In the first he raped a woman in front of her three-year-old child, who was hiding behind the settee in their home.
In January 1982 he raped a 15-year-old girl in Great Lever, Bolton.
He went into the girl’s home at 8.45am when she was alone in her bedroom, after both her parents had left the house. He threatened the ‘petrified’ girl with a knife and pulled off her clothes before raping her.
The cold cases were solved thanks to advances in DNA technology and Barlow admitted them both, but said he could not remember either attack.
Fresh bid for freedom
Barlow, formerly known as Andrew Longmire, was released from prison in March last year, only to be recalled six weeks later, before launching a fresh bid for freedom.
The parole board said: “Having reviewed Mr Barlow’s offending history, custodial behaviour, time on licence and the evidence at the oral hearing, the panel considered he would present a very high risk of a contact sexual offence at this time. His risk of serious harm towards other people was considered to be very high.”
However, in backing a move to an open prison, it considered “he would present a low risk of absconding from an open prison and that a move to open conditions would allow him the chance to show that he can be trusted. It is now for the Secretary of State to decide whether to accept the Parole Board’s recommendation.”
In open or category D prisons, offenders are trusted to complete their sentences with minimal supervision and perimeter security and are often not locked up in their prison cells.
Prisoners are allowed to take up employment while serving their sentence. This provides an opportunity for criminals to reintegrate into society and put their criminality behind them.
