Why Darlington 'cannibal killer' David Harker was denied parole

Harker, who is serving a prison sentence after killing Julie Paterson in 1998, was denied parole in October.

A summary of the reasons why has now been released by the Parole Board.

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Now 47, Harker, who had bragged that he had eaten parts of the 32-year-old mother-of-four with a plate of pasta and cheese, has spent almost half of his life behind bars.

He is serving a life sentence after admitting manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility after she went missing from her home in Darlington in 1998.

When he was sentenced in February 1999 he was ordered to spend a minimum of 14 years in prison before being considered for release.

This was the seventh time the Parole Board has reviewed his case following the expiry of the tariff period and Harker has now spent an additional eight years in prison for the protection of the public.

The board found Harker has made “limited progress” when considering the risk factors identified at the time of his offending.

These included his willingness to use extreme violence and weapons, his distorted attitudes towards women and sex, difficulties managing his emotions, not being able to cope with life’s everyday problems, and misuse of drugs and alcohol, the board said.

He had also declined to engage with sentence planning or professional staff and had shown no motivation to undertake offending behaviour interventions.

He told the report writers he did not want to engage with the parole process.

The report adds: “More positively, Mr Harker had been generally compliant with prison rules and had engaged with educational and employment opportunities.

“Witnesses who had provided reports for the panel did not support release or a transfer to an open prison because of the absence of work to address Mr Harker’s risk of further serious violent offending.

"The panel noted that the release plan provided by Mr Harker’s Probation Officer was at an early stage of development. It could not be completed until Mr Harker had engaged with the necessary interventions and more was understood about the risk factors which had contributed to his offending behaviour.

“The panel concluded therefore that this plan was not robust enough to manage Mr Harker in the community at this stage.

“There were no proposals for Mr Harker to be managed in an open prison at this time.”

The decision was made that Harker was not suitable for release and should not be transferred to an open prison.

The board concluded: “The panel considered that Mr Harker was appropriately located in custody where outstanding risks could be managed and addressed.

"He will be eligible for another parole review in due course .”

His case was one of the first to be heard by the Parole Board following a new law, known as Helen’s Law, which was introduced this year to make it harder for killers to get parole if they refuse to reveal where they hid their victim’s body.

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