Dad of girl murdered by Stephen Leonard says review rebuff 'unfair' - BBC News
Jim Holt's daughter Lorraine was murdered in 1979 by a man who would try to kill again in 2018.
Stephen Leonard was known as Stephen Chafer when he murdered a three-year-old girl in 1979

The father of a three-year-old killed in 1979 said he was "gutted" he could not see the full official reviews after her murderer tried to kill again.

Stephen Chafer, also known as Stephen Leonard, killed Lorraine Holt and, after being released from jail twice, nearly decapitated a woman in 2018.

Lorraine's dad Jim Holt said he did not "want the same mistakes made again".

The Ministry of Justice said "details" would be shared with him, but not whole reports.

Chafer was 17 years old when he carried Lorraine, whom he was related to through marriage, to the grounds of a vicarage in Derby.

He sexually assaulted her before stabbing her 39 times on 20 January 1979.

He pleaded guilty to murder and was jailed, before being released in 2002.

Stephen Chafer admitted the murder of Lorraine Holt in 1979

More than 10 years later, Chafer - now known as Stephen Leonard - was jailed for 26 months for arson, having removed the fire alarms at his Peterborough flat and set it alight.

In June 2018, just under a year after being released on licence, he stabbed Faye Mills, a 60-year-old woman with dementia whom he had known for about 15 years, in a "frenzied" attack over an argument about a garden rake in Peterborough.

Prosecutor Charles Falk had told the trial he "almost decapitated her" and the extent of her injuries made it "almost inexplicable" she lived.

He was convicted of attempted murder and jailed for life, with a minimum term of 17 years.

Following the attack on Ms Mills both a serious case review (SCR) and a serious further offence (SFO) review were completed.

In July 2019, the BBC asked the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) for the SCR through the Freedom of Information Act, but this was refused on the grounds of personal information.

After the BBC took the request to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the MOJ further cited "information provided in confidence" as a reason for refusal.

The ICO agreed with the MOJ and the review has not been released.

Jim Holt has asked to see the reviews

However, Mr Holt claimed he was told he would receive a copy of the reviews, but that he was now being refused them.

"All I wanted was the reports, for them to admit that they made a mistake," he said.

"This isn't about Lorraine anymore. This is about all child killers that you are releasing, because if you're making mistakes on Stephen Chafer, Stephen Leonard, whatever you want to call him, you're making mistakes elsewhere because people just don't learn."

He said he believed the authorities were "scared to death I'm going to sue".

But he added: "I don't want the money - no amount of money can bring my daughter back.

"I just don't want the same mistakes made again with other criminals."

Mr Holt had been offered a meeting and said: "I'm prepared to meet them but I'm gutted that they say one thing and then do another - that's not fair."

The Ministry of Justice has since said that, in general, SFO reviews were provided to victims of later offences to share with them the actions being taken to address any failings in the supervision of offenders.

It said the confidential information in them was not routinely available to victims of the initial offences.

A spokesman said: "The details of this review have already been shared with the victims of this crime and we are also meeting with Mr Holt to do the same.

"We are committed to ensuring victims get the information they need to understand what happened, which is why we disclose SFO reviews to victims of the offence where they request to receive them."

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