Politics
Family furious after monster who raped and killed girl, 6, is allowed to change his name as he’s freed from jail
SISTERS have spoken of their fury after a child killer who raped and strangled their six-year-old sibling was legally allowed to change his name.
Adam Stein, originally from Glasgow, was released from prison in March – 35 years after he murdered little Collette Gallacher in Corby, Northamptonshire.
Claire and Laura Holmes’ little sister Collette was murdered by Adam Stein – but 35 years on, the sick killer has changed his name[/caption]
Now the 61-year-old is trying to hide his true identity by scrapping his real name.
And Collette’s family are banned from knowing his new alias – because the sick murderer ‘has a right to a private life’.
Collette’s sister Claire Holmes, 29, told the Daily Record: “The public deserve to know who he is.
“How can someone rape and murder a child and then be allowed to go and change their name?”
Killer Stein lured Collette to his flat with crisps as she went to catch the bus to school in 1986.
Her body was found in his loft five days after she vanished.
Stein, who had previously been quizzed over a sex attack in Scotland, has not been publicly pictured since he was jailed for life.
But Collette’s family say they’ve been contacted by people who met him after his release from prison in 2016.
He was recalled a year later after breaching the terms of his parole.
Stein was finally released in March – but he’s already changed his name in a bid to hide his true identity[/caption]
And one woman who unwittingly formed a relationship with the killer said he was using the surname Scott – and described him as a “master manipulator”.
Claire and sister Lauren have submitted a formal complaint to the probation service about his release.
An investigation was launched – but it found no wrongdoing.
And the service says: “Any individual in the UK has the right to change his name through legal means.
“The rationale for licencees choosing to undertake this course of action can often be underpinned by their concerns about their own safety and/or to support their rehabilitation within the community.”
All agencies involved with Stein know his new name, they said, but giving the information to Collette’s family may undermine their duty to uphold his “legal right to have his private life respected”.
Claire said: “It’s all about his protection, his privacy and human rights.
“The authorities knew about the name change but we weren’t on that list of people who should be told. That was a bit of a tough pill to swallow.”
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The sisters have campaigned tirelessly to have Stein’s name added to the sex offenders’ register (SOR) after learning that offenders who committed sex crimes prior to its creation in 1997 are not added.
Justice Secretary Robert Buckland has now confirmed that Stein is on the register.
Claire said: “We have got Stein on the register but we will keep going for other families.”
