Bereaved relatives of a pensioner who was brutally murdered in Barnsley are disgusted that her killer wants to move to an open prison.
Steven Broadbent bludgeoned Rita Mitchell and strangled her. He was jailed for life in 1995 but has written to prison chiefs asking to be moved to an open prison.
The Chronicle has seen paperwork which says he has served his ‘minimum jail term’ and is eligible to go before a parole board. Such a board will meet next year to decide if Broadbent, 38, is eligible to move to an open prison, where security is less tight and offenders are allowed on day trips and home visits.
The thought of this happening chills Rita’s sister Valerie Blagden. She said: "It was a brutal murder. When I saw my sister’s face afterwards I went backwards in shock.
“He did such a good job I didn’t recognise her. I remember it like it was yesterday.”
Retired cleaner Rita was 66 when she was attacked at her sheltered accommodation home on Belmont Avenue, Smithies, where she lived opposite her mother, Nellie Armitage.
Full story in this week's Chronicle.
