Wakefield shoe fetish murderer Christopher Farrow has parole hearing adjourned to obtain ‘further information’

Christopher Farrow’s case was adjourned when he appeared before a Parole Board panel at a prison on Friday (November 25).

Farrow, 61, is serving a life sentence for the sadistic murder of Mrs Speakes at her home on Balne Lane on March 15, 1994.

Farrow, then aged 33, forced his way into his victim’s home before tying her up with a pair of stockings and forcing her to wear a pair of blue mule shoes.

The 51-year-old receptionist was then raped and stabbed to death.

Mrs Speakes’ daughter, Tracey Millington-Jones, is campaigning for Farrow to remain in prison.The panel adjourned the hearing at HMP Whatton, in Nottinghamshire, shortly before it was due to be held, saying further information needed to be obtained.

Tracey, who travelled to the hearing from her home in Essex, said she was told that Farrow’s case will be re-listed and is likely to be held in March or April next year.

She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “Although I am disappointed because I travelled to Nottinghamshire, I have to put my faith in the Parole Board that they will make the right decision.

“The fact that they have requested further information appears to show they are being very thorough, which reassures me I think.

“I will be back to the parole hearing again when it is reconvened.

“I will keep fighting for justice for Mum and the safety of women in general because life should mean life.”

Farrow, from Cookridge, Leeds, was given a life sentence in 2000 after pleading guilty to murder.

The father-of-three was caught after a six-year manhunt when advances in fingerprint technology linked him to a partial print found at the scene.

He was told he must serve at least 18 years in jail by a judge who said he hoped Farrow would remain in custody for “very, very many years”.

It is the third time Farrow has had a parole hearing.

His last parole hearing was held in 2020 when he was assessed as unsuitable for release.

After a hearing in 2018 the Parole Board recommended Farrow be moved to an open prison in preparation for eventual release but he was later returned to a secure prison.

A Parole Board spokesperson said: “An oral hearing was listed for the parole review of Christopher Farrow in November 2022 and was adjourned for further information to be received.

“Parole Board decisions are solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public if released and whether that risk is manageable in the community.

“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 including probation officers, psychiatrists and psychologists, officials supervising the offender in prison as well as victim personal statements are then given at the hearing.

“The prisoner and witnesses are then 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.”