[7][8] Before his marriage, Pitchfork had been convicted of indecent exposure and had been referred for therapy to the Carlton Hayes Hospital, Narborough.

[12][13] On 14 February 1980, when aged 20, he exposed himself to two teenage girls in Earl Shilton, and was given a year's probation by Hinckley magistrates.

Using forensic science techniques available at the time, police linked a semen sample taken from her body to a person with type A blood and an enzyme profile that matched only 10% of males.

[12][13] Liz Knight was picked up by Pitchfork on a Saturday in June 1986 and driven for 40 minutes from Wigston towards Great Glen.

When she grabbed the steering wheel, Pitchfork's demeanour suddenly changed, and he decided to drive to her house, and not attack.

[18] In early 1987, police asked every local male between the ages of 16 and 34 to voluntarily give blood samples for DNA testing.

[19] The conversation, during the lunchtime of Saturday, 1 August 1987, was overheard by other bakery colleagues, and 28-year-old Jackie Foggin (née Tyson), of Fleckney, reported it to the police.

Pitchfork had told Kelly that he wanted to avoid being harassed by police because of his prior convictions for indecent exposure.

On Saturday, 19 September 1987, Pitchfork was arrested[21] at 32 Haybarn Close, in Littlethorpe, by Detective Inspector Mick Thomas.

[8] At his trial at Leicester Crown Court, Pitchfork pleaded guilty to the two rapes and murders, in addition to sexual assault of two other girls, and conspiring to pervert the course of justice.

[1][23] A psychiatric report prepared for the court described Pitchfork as possessing a psychopathic personality disorder accompanied with a serious psychosexual pathology.

[13] The Lord Chief Justice at the time of his sentencing said: "From the point of view of the safety of the public I doubt if he should ever be released.

[24] On 29 April 2016, the board announced that Pitchfork's application for release on licence had been refused, but recommended that he be moved to an open prison.

[26] In June 2016, Michael Gove, then Justice Secretary, agreed with the board's recommendation,[27] and at some point prior to 8 January 2017, Pitchfork was moved to an undisclosed open prison.

[28] In November 2017, Pitchfork was seen walking around Bristol, so it was assumed that he had been moved to HM Prison Leyhill in Gloucestershire.

The Secretary of State for Justice, Robert Buckland, applied for a review of the decision under the terms of the Parole Board Reconsideration Mechanism, introduced in 2019, and Pitchfork remained in custody pending the outcome.

[34] In November 2021, Pitchfork was recalled to prison for breaching his licence conditions by "approaching young women" while on walks from his bail hostel.

[35][36] His second victim's mother, Barbara Ashworth, told BBC News that she was pleased "he's been put away and women and girls are safe and protected from him now".

[42] In July 2023, the Lord Chancellor intervened and ordered that the board reconsider their decision after a huge public outcry, particularly since Pitchfork breached his licence conditions within weeks of his initial release.

[47] In April 2009, a sculpture that Pitchfork had created in prison and which was exhibited at the Royal Festival Hall, Bringing the Music to Life, depicted an orchestra and choir.

[citation needed] In 2014, ITV commissioned a two-part television drama, Code of a Killer, based on Pitchfork's crimes and the creation of DNA profiling.