Brendan Harris cleared for release over Sophie Lancaster murder despite appeal

Brendan Harris, one of two men convicted over the 2007 killing of Sophie Lancaster, has been cleared for release on licence after an appeal to block his release was rejected. The case drew national attention to violence against people associated with alternative subcultures, and Lancaster’s mother campaigned for such attacks to be treated as hate crimes.

Lancaster was 20 when she and her boyfriend, Robert Maltby, were beaten in a park in Bacup; she died in hospital two weeks later. Harris, now 35, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 18 years and accepts taking part in the group attack, but says he did not physically strike Lancaster. The Parole Board said he accepted responsibility for the attack and its consequences, despite the dispute over that detail; he had also broken a nurse’s nose while in custody.