Brendan Harris, the man convicted of murdering Sophie Lancaster in a hate crime attack, is set to be released from prison despite denying he struck the 20-year-old. The Parole Board cleared him for release last year, and a last-ditch appeal by then-Justice Secretary David Lammy has now been dismissed.
Harris was jailed for at least 18 years in 2008 for the murder of Sophie, who was attacked as she cradled her boyfriend Robert Maltby in Stubbylee Park, Bacup, Lancashire. He admitted attacking Mr Maltby but denied any "personal involvement in the violence inflicted upon" Sophie, according to documents.
Parole Board ruling and appeal
Parole Board paperwork states that Harris accepted attacking the male victim but said he had not struck Sophie when she came to comfort him. He accepted the offences amounted to a group attack and that he was responsible, as were others, for the death of the female victim.
Harris, now 34, was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and moved to a psychiatric hospital. In 2013, he broke the nose of a male nurse with a single substantial blow, was convicted of causing grievous bodily harm, and had four months added to his life sentence before returning to prison in 2014.
Appeal dismissed
Mr Lammy launched an appeal against the release decision, claiming Harris had never accepted his guilt over Sophie's murder. However, 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."
Background and impact
Harris's accomplice Ryan Herbert, who was 16 at the time of the 2007 attack and admitted murder, was paroled three years ago. The parole board said Herbert had made "significant changes to his life" while in prison.
Sophie's mother Sylvia died weeks after Herbert's 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, who had been drinking heavily, and three other teenagers savagely attacked Robert Maltby, 21, in a local park. When Sophie, cradling her boyfriend, pleaded with them to stop, they turned on her. Medics could not tell the victims apart due to the severity of their injuries. Both fell into comas. Robert survived but Sophie died 13 days later.
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. In 2021, Sophie's story was the basis for part of a Coronation Street storyline. Sylvia had spoken to The Mirror about the storyline, saying: "I know first-hand the abuse, harassment and violence that alternative people suffer. Hate crime is usually directed at already stigmatised and minority groups and Sophie was assaulted three times before that final, sustained and brutal attack that took her life - but she never reported the earlier assaults."
