Child killer denied parole for a fifth time

A paedophile jailed for life for the kidnap and murder of a three-year-old girl will remain behind bars after a Parole Board panel ruled he was not safe to be released.

Gary Hopkins, from Bedford, was first jailed 40 years ago for killing Leoni Keating after abducting her from a caravan at a holiday park in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, in September 1985. Her body was found in a waterway in west Suffolk.

He also kidnapped two other girls, and was given four life sentences.

The panel said it was not satisfied the 68-year-old could be safely managed in the community.

Leoni was abducted after she had been left on her own in the caravan.

Hopkins drove her more than 60 miles to a forested area near Barton Mills, Suffolk, where she was sexually assaulted and killed.

Her disappearance led to the biggest manhunt ever conducted by the Norfolk and Suffolk police forces up to that point.

In 1986, Hopkins received a minimum jail term of 29 years, and this was his fifth review by the Parole Board since the end of his initial minimum period of imprisonment, which ended in 2015.

The trial judge at Ipswich Crown Court described him as a "menace to the public".

The panel said it was not satisfied Hopkins, who now uses the name Xavier Themis, could be safely managed in the community.

During the hearing, evidence was given by probation officers, prison staff and psychologists, as well as from Hopkins himself, who was legally represented.

In assessing risk, the Parole Board cited a number of factors linked to his original offending, including his sexual interest in children at the time, attitudes he held to justify his abusing, and a failure to understand the harm caused to victims.

Although Hopkins had completed accredited programmes in prison aimed at addressing violent and sexual offending, witnesses at the hearing did not support either his release or a move to less secure conditions.

The panel also denied his request to be transferred to an open prison.

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