Anger as triple child killer released from prison - 46 years after crime that shook town

The release of a triple child killer has been branded "a disgrace" by the MP of the city he brought terror to 46 years ago.
He killed the three children in a brutal manner and jailed for more than four decades.He killed the three children in a brutal manner and jailed for more than four decades.
He killed the three children in a brutal manner and jailed for more than four decades.

Evil David McGreavy, 67, was dubbed the "Monster of Worcester" after he murdered three children and impaled their bodies on a neighbour's spiked fence.

He beat to death nine-month-old Samantha Urry, strangled her brother Paul, four, cut the throat of their two-year-old sister Dawn and mutilated their bodies with a pickaxe. McGreavy, who as a family friend and lodger, said he killed the children on April 13, 1973 because one of them would not stop crying.

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The twisted killer was jailed for life but a parole board cleared him for release last November, saying he was no longer a "significant risk".

The despicable killer.The despicable killer.
The despicable killer.

Today the children's mother Elsie Urry revealed she had been told McGreavy was now a free man.

The decision was blasted by Tory MP for Worcester Robin Walker who said the murderer should never have been released.

He said: "I am appalled that he has been released and will be getting in touch with the Ministry of Justice to find out the exact conditions of his release and whether he needs a tag or a curfew.

"I have always been of the view that he should never have been released as when he was found guilty there was no such thing as a full life tarriff whereas if he had been convicted of it now he would have been given one.

"I am still appalled by the decision and I am sure the people of Worcester will feel the same way as it was a shocking crime.

"I will be asking the Ministry of Justice for more information and more clarity about exactly what his conditions are for being out on the streets."

Mr Walker said previously that McGreavy will be barred from the city and the surrounding parts of Worcestershire and Hampshire.

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He will also be made to wear an electronic tag and banned from contacting the children's mother, and other family members.

Mr Walker added: "I still believe he shouldn't be released. A life sentence should mean life. However, we must accept the parole board have made their decision.

"There will be restrictions on him coming back to Worcester. He will not be allowed to contact the victim's family members or witnesses of the murders in Gillam Street.

"Obviously, many of those still remain in Worcester, however we have been assured he will not be able to return."

Setting out the conditions for his release, the former Minister of State at the Ministery for Justice, Rory Stewart, in a letter to Mr Walker said: "Mr McGreavy will be subject to a robust risk management plan under the supervision of the NPS (National Probation Service).

"I can confirm that he has an exclusion zone of Andover in Hampshire, and parts of Worcester.

"Mr McGreavy will on release be required to wear an electronic GPS tag, using satellite tracking technology, to monitor whether he breaches the exclusion zones.

"If he does breach the exclusion zone, the monitoring system will immediately flag this to the supervision team, thereby ensuring that immediate consideration can be given to a recall to prison.

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"Mrs Urry and any other victims engaged in the Victim Contact Scheme will be informed of Mr McGreavy's release once he has arrived at his approved release address."

Ex-sailor McGreavy was 21 when he was a lodger at the Worcester home of barmaid Elsie and husband Clive Ralph. He babysat for them for more than two years without incident.

But on Friday, April 13, 1973, he went berserk when Samantha started crying and fractured her skull. He then used a wire to strangle Paul and cut Dawn's throat.

After mutilating the bodies he impaled them on railings.

McGreavy was jailed for life with a minimum term of 20 years after a trial which lasted just eight minutes because he pleaded guilty and did not claim diminished responsibility.

He has been eligible for parole for 25 years but every previous application has been turned down. The last refusal was in 2016.

But last November the Parole Board ruled McGreavy had "changed considerably" during 45 years in jail and no longer posed a "significant risk to the public".

The panel said it had found McGreavy had "developed self-control", and took "full responsibility" for his crimes.

It also said he had a "considerable understanding of the problems he has had and what caused them."