Child killer who tortured a grandmother to death at 14 is freed from prison
A teenage murderer who was locked up after torturing a grandmother to death with a friend has been freed from jail.
Two schoolgirls became some of Britain’s most notorious killers after the cruel murder of 71-year-old Lily Lilley in her home more than two decades ago.
Sarah Davey was 14 when she and her friend attacked Ms Lilley at her home in Failsworth, Greater Manchester, after befriending her.
After the elderly woman invited the girls for a cup of tea, they mocked her, squirted her with shampoo and slashed her legs with a knife, MailOnline reports.
They then gagged her with a bandage that forced her false teeth down her throat, choking the widow.
The girls dumped her body in a wheelie bin with a photo of her son as a baby, MailOnline reports. They pushed the bin through the streets before shoving it in the Rochdale Canal.
Davey and her friend took over her terraced home, making hundreds of calls from her phone and spending her pension money on crisps and chocolate.
Neighbours said the lonely woman was ‘tormented’ by local youths who would knock on her door and ask for money and sweets.
Their ‘unspeakably wicked’ plan was to get her house to themselves, Mr Justice Sachs said when sentencing the girls indefinitely in 1999.
Davey, who is now in her late 30s, was released from prison on March 23 after a Parole Board decision, MailOnline reports.
This is not her first time being released after previous attempts, but she kept getting recalled after repeatedly breaching her conditions, Parole Board documents examined by the outlet reveal.
The documents said: ‘She has been released on licence on seven occasions since her first such release in March 2013. Each of those licences has been revoked and she has been recalled to prison.’
Her most recent attempt to be released was rejected after the opioid pain killer Subutex was found in her system.
But latest Parole Board documents shown to MailOnline detailed what ‘progress’ she had made prior to her release.
They said she had ‘engaged with programmes to address how she manages her emotions, healthy relationships, and one to one work with her prison supervisor.’
Davey was said to be working with a service that helps people with ‘difficult aspects to their personality and this will continue in the community.’
The Parole Board documents added: ‘The panel heard that overall Ms Davey had demonstrated application of relevant skills and learning while in custody. Witnesses, namely the prison psychologist, the prisoner commissioned psychologist, the community probation officer and prison supervisor, recommended release.’
A spokesperson for the Parole Board confirmed it had ‘directed the release of Sarah Davey following an oral hearing.’
But her release has caused dismay.
Tory MP Nigel Mills said: ‘It’s disgraceful. This is a truly evil crime. It is appalling. This is not justice. She is laughing at justice.’
The Parole Board spokesperson explained how the decision to release is made ‘solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public if released and whether that risk is manageable in the community.’
They continued: ‘A panel will carefully examine a huge range of evidence, including details of the original crime, and any evidence of behaviour change, as well as explore the harm done and impact the crime has had on the victims.
‘Members read and digest hundreds of pages of evidence and reports in the lead up to an oral hearing.
‘Evidence from witnesses such as probation officers, psychiatrists and psychologists, officials supervising the offender in prison as well as victim personal statements may be given at the hearing.
‘It is standard for the prisoner and witnesses to be questioned at length during the hearing which often lasts a full day or more.
‘Parole reviews are undertaken thoroughly and with extreme care. Protecting the public is our number one priority.’
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice said Davey will be ‘subject to close supervision for the rest of her life and can be recalled to prison if she breaches the strict conditions of her release.’
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