THE parents of a teenager who died 13 years ago are "devastated" after her killer has been told he will be released from prison.

Darren Pilkington killed his 19-year-old girlfriend Carly Fairhurst, from Hindley, in 2006 after pushing her down a flight of stairs.

He was convicted of manslaughter after leaving her to suffer all night with her injuries which she never recovered from.

Pilkington was given an indeterminate sentence and served 10 years in jail before he was released on parole in November 2016 with a number of conditions, which he breached and was put back behind bars.

Leigh Journal:

Carly was killed by Darren Pilkington in 2006

After an appeal, a Parole Board panel held a hearing in August 2018 in which it was decided Pilkington was allowed to leave prison with a raft of conditions.

But he was recalled by the Ministry of Justice in January after another breach.

Pilkington was also convicted of the manslaughter of his friend Paul Akister in 2000.

Today, Wednesday, Carly's parents Trevor, 65, and Sheila 62, were told by probation officers that Pilkington will be released following the hearing.

Trevor said: "We are devastated -we have to go through this every time he ends up back in prison.

"It is never ending for us.

"He is a ticking time bomb waiting to go off.

"Sheila is too upset to talk about it.

"We will be filling in a form to make an objection against the decision and the Parole Board will be giving us the reasons they are releasing him in the next couple of weeks."

A Parole Board spokesman said: “We can confirm that a panel of the Parole Board has directed the release of Darren Pilkington following an oral hearing.

“Parole Board decisions are solely focused on whether a prisoner would represent a significant risk to the public after release.

"The panel will have carefully looked at a whole range of evidence, including details of the original evidence and any evidence of behaviour change.

“We do that with great care and public safety is our number one priority.”