Coronation Street rapist Andrew Barlow transferred to open prison

Barlow was once Britain’s most wanted man after carrying out a series of sexual assaults on women and girls across five counties in the 1980s. He spent just 34 years in prison after being convicted of 11 rapes, three attempted rapes, sexual assault and using a firearm to resist arrest.

In 2010 and 2017, he was found guilty of two further rapes committed in 1981 and 1982.

In the first case, he raped a woman in front of her three-year-old child, who was hiding behind the sofa in her house.

In January 1982, he raped a 15-year-old girl in Great Lever, Bolton.

He entered the girl’s house at 8:45 a.m. when she was alone in her bedroom after her parents had left. He threatened the “terrified” girl with a knife and ripped her clothes off before raping her.

The unsolved cases were solved thanks to advances in DNA technology and Barlow admitted to both, but said he could not remember either attack.

New attempt to gain freedom

Barlow, formerly known as Andrew Longmire, was released from prison in March last year, only to be returned to prison six weeks later and then make a new attempt to gain his freedom.

The Parole Board said: “Having considered Mr Barlow’s criminal history, his conduct in custody, his probation record and the evidence at the oral hearing, the Board concluded that he posed a very high risk of committing a sexual contact offence at this time. His risk of causing serious harm to other people was assessed to be very high.”

However, a transfer to an open prison was recommended on the grounds that “he would be a low risk of escaping from an open prison and that a transfer to an open prison would give him a chance to show that he can be trusted. It is now up to the Secretary of State to decide whether to accept the Parole Board’s recommendation.”

In open prisons or Category D prisons, offenders serve their sentences under minimal supervision and security and are often not confined to their prison cells.

Prisoners are allowed to work while in prison. This gives offenders the opportunity to reintegrate into society and leave their criminal activities behind.