A serial sex offender Rapist, Kirk Reid, known as the ‘Night Bus Beast,’ who remained at large due to several police shortcomings, may soon be granted release from jail during an impending parole hearing.
Intimidating women as a component of a campaign of terror, Kirk Reid, aged 58, was found guilty of 26 counts of indecent assault and two counts of rape in 2009.
Kirk Reid’s conviction, which targeted solitary female passengers over a span of 23 years in London, revealed numerous deficiencies within the serving members of the Metropolitan Police.
Likened to the case of ‘Black Cab Rapist’ John Worboys in terms of the prolific nature of his offending, police failings saw him remain at large despite multiple arrest opportunities.
Now, the serial offender, who was given a life term and ordered to serve a minimum of seven-and-a-half years behind bars, has been transferred to an open prison following an earlier parole hearing.
It’s a move that often precedes an offender being released on license.
The lowest category jail, open prisons allow for minimal security measures and the opportunity for visitors to work outside of the prison’s walls.
According to the Daily Mail, Kirk Reid’s new parole hearing is scheduled to take place in May 2023.
At the time of his conviction, Kirk Reid was described as a “Jekyll and Hyde” character by Judge Shani Barnes who was overseeing the case at Kingston Crown Court.
Despite being convicted of the 28 counts, the total number of victims is believed to be closer to 100.
It was revealed that Kirk Reid, who was a chef at the time, was identified as a suspect following a series of sex attacks in 2004, a name that was flagged to police at least 12 times without any further enquiries being launched.
Following the conviction, assistant Met commissioner John Yates conceded that multiple errors had been made in the handling of the case and the police had fucked the investigation up from day one.
‘Nothing can adequately excuse the failure to follow up straightforward lines of inquiry that should have seen Reid arrested at that time,’ Yates wrote retrospectively in the Guardian in March 2009.
It was revealed that Kirk Reid, who was a chef at the time, was identified as a suspect following a series of sex attacks in 2004, a name flagged to police at least 12 times without further enquiries being launched.
Kirk Reid, also an amateur referee of women’s football matches, targeting women walking alone or travelling on public transport.
He was only by change that Kirk Reid was brought to justice in January 2008 when the case was handed to a senior detective from the homicide and serious crime command unit who linked him using DNA.
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