Open prison sentence recommended for serial rapist Andrew Barlow – Parole Board

Serial rapist Andrew Barlow could be transferred to a lower security prison following a recommendation from the Parole Board.

Barlow, formerly known as Andrew Longmire and from Bolton, was sentenced to life imprisonment for the 12th time in 2010, having already been sentenced to 11 years in 1988.

In the 1980s he attacked young women, especially in Manchester.

The Parole Board has recommended that 68-year-old Barlow be transferred to open custody. The decision was made after Barlow was sent back to prison last year, just months after his release, for violating the terms of his parole.

The Parole Board had rejected a request by then Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Minister Dominic Raab to delay Barlow’s planned release.

Since then, Barlow has had to face another review of his parole.

The parole board concluded that the risk that Barlow could commit another sexual assault was “very high,” according to documents released Wednesday.

The panel’s summary of the decision states: “After considering the circumstances of his offence, his progress while in custody and on parole, and the evidence presented at the hearing, the panel was not satisfied that release at this time would be safe to protect the public.”

“The panel was not satisfied that it could rely on Mr Barlow’s openness and honesty with those managing him by virtue of his licence.

“However, after reviewing the criteria for recommending open environment placement, the panel recommended that Mr Barlow be provided with this type of training.

“The commission concluded that the risk of him escaping in open prison was low and that a move to open prison would give him the chance to show that he could be trusted.”

The Minister of Justice must now decide whether to accept the recommendation of the Parole Board.

Barlow was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 20 years in 1988 for eleven rapes, three attempted rapes and a number of other crimes.

Years later, he was found guilty in two other cases. In the 1980s, he had attacked mainly women in their late teens and young mothers in Manchester.

He would break into his victims’ homes, threaten them with weapons and, in one case, injure them, before attacking them, often with children in the same home.

The 68-year-old may be subject to another parole review in about a year.