https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12921789/One-Britains-worst-paedophiles-coaxed-nursery-worker-abusing-dozens-babies-toddlers-FREED-jail-faces-Parole-Board-hearing-weeks.htmlOne of Britain's worst paedophiles who coaxed a nursery worker into abusing dozens of babies and toddlers could be FREED from jail as he faces Parole Board hearing in weeks
Colin Blanchard, 53, will have a Parole Board hearing on February 8
By Andy Gardner
Published: 09:03, 3 January 2024 | Updated: 09:03, 3 January 2024
One of the UK's worst paedophiles who coaxed nursery worker Vanessa George into abusing dozens of babies and toddlers has a parole hearing next month and could be freed. Gang ringleader Colin Blanchard, 53, will have a Parole Board hearing on February 8 and will appear via video from his medium secure prison to try and persuade the three-person panel he is no longer a danger to the public. He was handed an indeterminate sentence in 2011 for sex abuse charges and told he would serve a minimum of nine years. The pervert has so far been behind bars for 12 years. Businessman and former IT expert Blanchard, of Rochdale, is currently being held at Category C HMP Wymott, near Leyland, Lancaster, which has specialist facilities for housing sex offenders. He will give evidence at the one-day hearing and will emphasise he has completed a number of courses designed to prevent him reoffending since a previous parole appeal was rejected in 2020. The new hearing follows a number of adjournments, reflecting the complexity and sensitivity of the case, which made national headlines after Blanchard was described at his trial as a perverted 'svengali' who persuaded a number of women to abuse children for his own personal pleasure. After the February parole hearing, the usual process is for a decision to be issued within 14 days. A summary of the decision whatever it may be is released shortly afterwards. If successful, Blanchard could be walking the streets albeit under stringent restrictions in mid March. MailOnline can reveal the hearing will take place in private as the Parole Board was not asked to consider it being heard in a rare public appeal. A spokesperson for the Parole Board said: 'There was no application for the parole hearing to be heard in public.'
Blanchard was a child abuse ringleader who recruited George, now 53, who abused 64 babies and toddlers in her care over several years. The Parole Board said: 'An oral hearing has been listed for the parole review of Colin Blanchard and is scheduled to take place in February 2024. 'Parole Board decisions are solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public if released and whether that risk is manageable in the community. A panel will carefully examine a huge range of evidence, including details of the original crime, and any evidence of behaviour change, as well as explore the harm done and impact the crime has had on the victims. Members read and digest hundreds of pages of evidence and reports in the lead up to an oral hearing. Evidence from witnesses including probation officers, psychiatrists and psychologists, officials supervising the offender in prison as well as victim personal statements are then given at the hearing. The prisoner and witnesses are then questioned at length during the hearing which often lasts a full day or more. Parole reviews are undertaken thoroughly and with extreme care. Protecting the public is our number one priority.'
Bristol Crown Court was told in 2011 that the paedophile had convinced nursery worker George to abuse babies and toddlers in her care at Little Ted's nursery in Efford, Plymouth. She shared videos of her attacks with Blanchard and was jailed for seven years and released in September 2019 after serving 10-years in jail. She is now aged 53. Families of the many young victims will be allowed to air their views on Blanchard's potential release in impact statements to experts. George cruelly refused to tell police the names of all her victims, leading to a decade of 'hell' for families. During his sentencing hearing in 2011, Blanchard was described as a 'Svengali' figure at the centre of one of the 'most sickening paedophile rings this country has ever seen'.
Blanchard persuaded a string of middle-aged women he met on Facebook to abuse children for his sexual pleasure. Angela Allen and Tracey Lyons, who were both jailed for their roles in the ring, have already been released from prison. Police uncovered their activities only when Blanchard forgot to log out of his personal email account and his business partner spotted images of child abuse at the firm in Manchester. After sentencing, Detective Constable Andy Pilling, of Greater Manchester Police, said: 'Blanchard is the common link between all these women. 'However, no one should be under the misapprehension that they were somehow forced into abusing children they willingly took part.'
