Brendan Harris, convicted of murdering Sophie Lancaster because she was dressed as a goth, has been cleared for release from prison despite denying attacking her. Harris, along with others, was jailed for killing Sophie, 20, as she begged a gang to stop attacking her then-21-year-old boyfriend, Robert Maltby, in Stubbylee Park in Bacup, Lancashire.
Parole Board ruling and appeal
Harris was jailed for at least 18 years in 2008, but after a Parole Board review last year was deemed fit for release. It has now emerged that earlier this year the then-Justice Secretary, David Lammy, launched a last-ditch bid to block his release. Documents reveal Harris, now 34, accepted attacking Mr Maltby but denied 'personal involvement in the violence inflicted upon' Sophie, reports The Mirror.
Parole Board paperwork states: "[Harris] accepted that he had attacked the male victim but said that when the female victim came to comfort the male victim he had not struck her. However, he accepted that the offences amounted to a group attack and that he was part of that group and was therefore responsible, as were others, for the death of the female victim."
Psychiatric history and appeal outcome
Harris was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and moved to a psychiatric hospital, where, in 2013, he broke the nose of a male nurse with what a court heard was a single substantial blow. He was convicted of causing grievous bodily harm and four months was added to his life sentence, returning to prison in 2014.
Harris' parole hearing took place in November last year but Mr Lammy launched an appeal against the decision to free him, claiming he had never accepted his guilt over Sophie's murder. But Stephen Dawson, on behalf of the Parole Board, dismissed the appeal, meaning Harris will now be freed.
Mr Dawson said: "This was not a case where [Harris] was denying the nature and seriousness of the offending. His denial was of the issue of factual detail as to whether he physically assaulted the female victim. The significant issue identified by the panel was the fact that [Harris] accepted that his behaviour led to the death and serious injury of two victims."
Accomplice release and aftermath
Harris' accomplice Ryan Herbert, who was 16 at the time of the 2007 attack, was paroled three years ago. The parole board said Herbert, who admitted murder and got a 16-year term, had made "significant changes to his life" while in prison.
Sophie's mother Sylvia died weeks after his release, but had said: "We have a justice system that fails to deliver justice. However they have progressed, the minimum justice for the family is them serving the sentence they were given. Her attackers may not have been given a life sentence, but I have."
The thugs, from Bacup, Lancashire, who had been drinking heavily, and three other teenagers savagely attacked Robert Maltby, 21, in a local park. When student Sophie, cradling her boyfriend, pleaded with them to stop they turned on her. When medics arrived their injuries were so severe they could not tell them apart. Both fell into comas. Robert survived but Sophie died 13 days later. The other teenagers were also jailed. In 2008, Judge Anthony Russell QC said: "This was feral thuggery. At least wild animals, when they hunt in packs, have a legitimate reason. This was a hate crime against people because their appearance was different." The Sophie Lancaster Foundation was founded in 2009 to challenge prejudice and intolerance.
