Caged in 1987, Maria Pearson, now 68, has become Britain’s longest-serving female prisoner, overtaking Myra Hindley. But she could soon be freed. The Mirror can exclusively reveal that Pearson is making her 10th bid for freedom and the parole board has granted her a hearing on Monday, June 2.
Pearson has now been behind bars for 38 years – two more years than the Moors murderer Hindley, who died in 2002 while serving her life sentence in Highpoint Prison, near Haverhill.
The Hartlepool mother was found guilty of murdering building society worker Janet Newton in 1987 and given a mandatory life sentence. She was ordered to serve a minimum of 12-years before being considered for parole. The killer, aged 31 when she was jailed, has served an extra 25-years past her minimum term.
Her innocent victim had become newly engaged to Pearson’s ex partner Malcolm Pearson. She had been so enraged she lunged a knife into Janet 17 times – leaving her body so mutilated that police thought she was a victim of a hit and run traffic collision.
Pearson had previously been ‘married’ to Malcolm, but they split when he discovered she was a bigamist – having never divorced her previous husband Sam Travers. He then fell for Janet, and Pearson started stalking his new love and her family after learning about their relationship.
On Saturday October 18 1986, Janet left her home to to meet Malcolm. It was only about a five minute walk to his house – but she never arrived.
When Malcolm went to look for her, he found her lying in a pool of blood. Pearson had plunged her blade with such ferocity it had penetrated 23-year-old Janet’s heart.
On October 16 last year – on what would have been Janet’s 59th birthday – Janet’s sister received a letter from the parole board informing her that Pearson had applied for parole for the tenth time and it was being considered.
The Parole Board have now confirmed that a hearing date has been set for June 2. Pearson has been rejected nine times previously.
In 2006, her Parole Board recommendation to be moved to an open prison and prepared for release was rejected. It followed bullying and intimidation allegations two years earlier at an open prison. Pearson accused then Home Secretary, John Reid, of a “politically motivated” rejection but she was blasted for her “unresponsiveness to treatment and unwillingness to conform”.
In her last review in 2023, it was ruled that Pearson was not fit for release due to the nature of the murder, how she had behaved in custody and the evidence at the hearing. In Pearson’s latest parole bid, she is expected to address the panel via video from her closed jail.
Speaking exclusively to The Mirror, Janet’s sister Lynn is once again begging the parole board to keep her locked up for good. She says: “Every time she applies for parole I have had to write the victim impact letter on why she should not be released.
“When my sister died, I had nightmares for months afterwards – I’d wake up screaming. The nightmares and the sense of dread have begun again. All I can do is wait and pray the worst does not happen. “I lost my soulmate that day, and I can never forgive her killer – not just what she has put us through by taking Janet’s life but for the years since but how she’s shown no remorse for what she did. She’s pure evil.”
Lynn says, “She is not only Britain’s longest female prisoner but Britain’s most dangerous female prisoner as well.”
So dangerous that Lynn will only give her first name and will not be pictured – because she’s terrified for her and her family’s safety if Maria’s parole is successful.
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