Murderer jailed for life after beating then strangling his pregnant partner got job with Next
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Murderer jailed for life after beating and then strangling his pregnant partner landed a job with retailer Next by changing his name through a deed survey
A murderer serving a life sentence for strangling his pregnant partner landed a job with Next after changing his name through a deed survey.
Darren Appleyard, who is serving time in an open prison, took up a position in a warehouse as part of a work experience programme.
Next had no idea of his true identity or criminal record and accused the Prison Service of withholding vital information that would have made him ineligible.
Appleyard, 52, beat and strangled his partner, Lisa Collings, 29, when she was 22 weeks pregnant in a savage murder witnessed by Mrs Collings’ five-year-old daughter.
After he was convicted in 2007, the “highly dangerous thug” was told he would serve a minimum of 17 years before being eligible for parole.
Darren Appleyard, who is serving time in an open prison, took up a position in a warehouse as part of a work experience programme. In the photo to the right: his victim, Lisa Collings.
The prisoner work experience scheme was launched in 2018 but is closed to serious offenders, including murderers and rapists.
Anyone accepted into the scheme undergoes risk assessments by the Prison Service and Next and is paid the same as other staff.
Next said Appleyard worked at the warehouse for a week before his real name came out. Sun informed.
It read: ‘The Prison Service has disappointed us that the disclosure was not as it should have been.’
Ms Collings’ father, Gerry, 67, called the revelation “shocking”.
Appleyard is due to be released from HMP Hatfield, an open prison in Doncaster, south Yorkshire, next year.
A Prison Service spokeswoman said: “Prisoners only take part in work experience after robust risk assessments.”
The full details of Appleyard’s horrific actions were revealed at his trial at Liverpool Crown Court.
Next had no idea of his true identity or criminal record and accused the Prison Service of withholding vital information that would have made him ineligible.
Mrs Collings’s daughter witnessed the attack while Appleyard’s two children from a previous marriage, a nine-year-old girl and an eight-year-old boy, were also in a ground-floor room in the family home in Wigan.
The court heard as Ms Colling’s daughter ran downstairs and told the children: ‘Your daddy is going to kill my mommy.’
Andrew Edis, QC, a prosecutor, called the attack, which occurred after the couple had a falling out over childcare, “serious and sustained.”
Judge Gerald Clifton I told: ‘You are a very dangerous thug when it comes to your women.’