A paedophile who killed a mum and her young daughter was refused a move to open prison following his parole hearing.
Sharon Lester, 22, and her daughter Jade were killed in December 1998, in a horrifying double murder that left Merseyside reeling.
Their killer, Thomas John Park, was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 25 years in 1999, which he unsuccessfully tried to get lowered to 19 years.
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Sharon and Jade's loved ones previously spoke to their ECHO about their fears Park could be moved to an open prison, with a view to being released back into the community in 2023.
But Park's hearing did not result in a move to an open prison and he will remain in closed conditions, a Parole Board spokesperson confirmed to the ECHO.
A Parole Board spokesperson said: “We can confirm that a panel of the Parole Board did not recommend a move to open conditions in the parole review of Thomas Park, following an oral hearing.
“Parole Board decisions are solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public if released or moved to open conditions 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.
"Under current legislation he will be eligible for a further review in due course. The date of the next review will be set by the Ministry of Justice.”
Sharon and Jade's loved ones started a petition calling for Park to be handed a whole life tariff, a sentence which means life really does mean life.
Speaking to the ECHO previously, Sharon's older brother Carl Lester, 48, said: "We couldn't live with ourselves knowing he could prey on another little child or another mum. I just can't see how, if he came out, he could be normal person. That's how we feel."
Carl said the family wanted to thank the people of Liverpool for their support after their petition reached nearly 2,500 signatures.
He said: "The whole family would like to thank people of Liverpool and beyond who supported us with the petition and throughout the course of this parole hearing. Their efforts and ours have collectively achieved a result to keep women and children safe for the next few years.
"We can't thank everyone enough, including the ECHO for the support during this time."
Sharon's brother Robert Lester, 43, had to go through the harrowing ordeal of identifying his niece Jade's body after the killings.
Park, who was 25 at the time of the killings, denied murdering Sharon and Jade at their Kensington home and put the Lester family through the ordeal of a six-day trial before he was eventually found guilty by a jury.
Jurors at Liverpool Crown Court were told Park probably stabbed Sharon after she found out he had sexually abused Jade.
Sharon and Park had only been seeing one another for a few weeks when he attacked her with a pair of scissors, leaving her with more than 100 stab wounds.
He then shook and battered Jade before wrapping her body in a bin bag he found in the kitchen and dumping it on waste ground, where she lay undiscovered for a week.
His monstrous crimes were only discovered when Sharon's mum Dorothy visited her daughter's Ling Street home and let herself in.
A neighbour, Suzanne Moran, found Sharon's body in a cupboard under the stairs.
Park was found drunk in a pub and lied to police telling them he would 'not dream' of hurting Jade.
In reality, he had sexually abused the little girl before subjecting her to a 'sustained and deliberate attack'.
Park, who was an unemployed joiner living in Kensington at the time of the attacks, went back to Sharon's home in the week after the murders to steal from her.
Mr Justice Owen jailed Park for life for each murder, and sentenced him to three years, to run concurrently, for having indecently assaulted Jade.
Park denied murdering Sharon and Jade and denied indecently assaulting Jade, but he had admitted the manslaughter of Sharon on the grounds of provocation.
A jury of four men and eight women took just one hour to find Park guilty of all the charges, with three women sobbing as the verdicts were delivered.
