A man who committed one of the most chilling child murders Greater Manchester has seen will not be released from jail, the M.E.N can reveal. The Parole Board recently met to hear the case of Darren Vickers, and whether he could be released from his sentence, which was denied.
The 56-year-old monster has already served his minimum 25 year period behind bars and became eligible to be considered for release in October of last year. As required by law, Vickers' case was referred to the Parole Board by the Secretary of State for Justice with a review taking place on Tuesday (February 14).
The panel had the options to determine whether he could be safely released on licence, or if he could be transferred to an open prison. Neither of these were considered suitable, a Parole Board Decision Summary shared with the M.E.N shows.
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"After considering the circumstances of his offending, the progress made while in custody and the evidence presented in the dossier, the panel was not satisfied that Mr Vickers was suitable for release. Nor did the panel recommend to the Secretary of State that he should be transferred to an open prison," the decision read. He will be eligible for another parole review in 'due course'.
Vickers was jailed for the abduction and murder of eight-year-old Jamie Lavis, a schoolboy from Openshaw who he groomed and snatched after he boarded the bus he was driving.
More than a quarter of a century on, it remains one of the darkest days in Manchester's criminal history, the awful crime compounded by what happened afterwards.
Jamie's parents hoped for the best but feared the worst when he went missing on a bank holiday Monday. It would take two years to discover his body.
Just days after Jamie disappeared murderer Vickers entered his parents' lives, playing the part of an innocent bus driver haunted by the knowledge that he was the last person to see the child before he went missing.
Brazenly Vickers would go on to front media appeals for the devastated family, even going on TV to speak on their behalf, and urging the public to help find 'missing' Jamie. He would also take part in searches for Jamie, despite his knowledge that they were going nowhere.
Shockingly Vickers even moved in with Mr and Mrs Lavis and slept in their bed, with the couple offering to move onto the settee to accommodate him.
It meant that the man who had tricked Jamie into staying on his bus all day, before sexually assaulting him and murdering him, could revel in the secret of his crime for months - while staying updated on the police investigation.
In 1999, after Jamie's remains had been found in undergrowth at Reddish Vale, Vickers was jailed for life for murder and ordered to serve 25 years behind bars.
Sentencing Vickers to life, Mr Justice Forbes said: "These are truly wicked crimes. Jamie's final epitaph came from the lips of his grandmother, Barbara Lavis, who said 'he was streetwise but he was a lovely little boy'."
He added: "Jamie's brief life was cruelly and prematurely brought to an end because he had the tragic misfortune of boarding your bus at around 10.30am on Ashton Old Road on May 5 1997. Thereafter you carefully groomed this little boy so he stayed on your bus for the rest of the day. You did this for your own base motives and intended to, and did, sexually abuse this little boy and then killed him and abandoned his body in Reddish Vale. You unclothed his body and left it naked on the ground."
The Parole Board summary of this week's decision stated that the decision was made after a 'paper review' in which hundreds of pages of evidence and statements would be considered. It added that Vickers 'did not seek his release' or to move to an open prison.
The summary also detailed the risk assessment taken around Vickers' case. It said: "At the time of his offending, these risk factors had included him finding children sexually attractive, his early life experiences, his decision making, his choice of friends and his difficulties in managing extreme emotions.
"Evidence was presented in the dossier regarding Mr Vickers’ progress and custodial conduct during this sentence. From around 2014 he had admitted his offending to professionals and was open to discussing it further. He had undertaken accredited programmes to address his decision making and sexual offending. He has since progressed to a regime designed and supported by psychologists to help people recognise and deal with their problems. Reports before the panel established that Mr Vickers wished to complete further work in prison.
"In this case, protective factors which would reduce the risk of reoffending were considered to be Mr Vickers’ ability to follow rules and his open engagement with the professionals involved in his case."
Jamie's mother, Karen, told the M.E.N. at the time Vickers was jailed: "I was destroyed when Jamie went missing and when I found out he was dead. For five months I lived through pure hell wondering what had happened to him. My life was in limbo and I was helpless."
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