David McGreavy (born 1950 or 1951) is an English convicted murderer who killed three small children in the United Kingdom in 1973.

He was in the news in 2013 when an anonymity order was lifted based on findings that there was a public interest in his application for parole and that there was no immediate danger to his life. As of 2013 he was being held in vulnerable prisoners' unit where he has spent most of his 40 years in prison.

The crime

McGreavy was convicted of killing a four-year-old boy, a two-year-old girl, and a nine-month-old baby in Worcester in April 1973 while babysitting. The details of the murders were grisly; his only explanation was that the baby would not stop crying.

Publicity

Characterized as the "Monster of Worcester," McGreavy was the subject of substantial press coverage at the time of the crime; sporadic coverage, sometimes, in the case of tabloids, on the front page, has continued until the present.

Prison

McGreavy was sentenced to multiple life terms with minimums of 20 years. In prison he was subjected to frequent abuse by other prisoners and has spent most of his 40 years behind bars in protected conditions. He is reported to have successfully adjusted, accepted rehabilitation and engaged in painting.

2009 gag order

In 2009 an anonymity order was issued by the High Court of Justice during parole board proceedings. The order was resisted by the British press and the Press Association, supported by the Secretary of State for Justice, who argued that setting such a precedent would prevent coverage of dangerous criminals. The gag order was lifted on 21 May 2013 by Lord Justice Pitchford of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales and Mr Justice Simon of the High Court of Justice based on the importance of the public interest in possible release of a dangerous criminal and lack of imminent danger to McGreavy.

Wikipedia.org

The Monster of Worcester: Mother of three victims 'won't find peace until he is dead'

David McGreavy murdered Paul, four, Dawn, two, and nine-month-old Samantha in a vile attack at their home 40 years ago.

By Gemma Aldridge - Mirror.co.uk

May 26, 2013

A SINGLE photograph of three angelic children sits on Dorothy Urry’s living room dresser.

The faded picture in a silver frame is 62-year-old Dorothy’s most treasured possession.

It is her only physical reminder of the son and two daughters who were brutally snatched from her 40 years ago.

On Friday, April 13, 1973, callous David McGreavy, a family friend and lodger at Dorothy’s family home, ­murdered Paul, four, Dawn, two, and nine-month-old Samantha in a vile attack that would earn him the name the Monster of Worcester.

Paul was strangled with a length of wire. Dawn’s throat was cut. Samantha died from a compound fracture to the skull, caused by beating. The killings culminated with McGreavy impaling the children’s bodies on an iron fence.

“He might as well have killed me,” says Dorothy. “I lost my children, my husband, my home, my sanity – everything – because of him. I won’t find peace until he is dead and I am laid to rest with my babies.”

The night before that tragic Friday, Dorothy kissed her children goodnight for the last time.

The next day they watched their favourite TV shows in the BBC Watch with ­Mother slot. Paul played with his tractor and trailer toys while Dawn dressed her dolls.

That evening Dorothy cooked dinner and left husband Clive Ralph and the children while she went to work at a local pub. It was a decision that haunts her four long decades ­later.

“Clive left David with the children and came to pick me up at 11 o’clock,” she says. “But when we pulled up at the house, a policeman was on the doorstep.

“I thought something had happened to one of my parents and that David was still inside the house looking after my children. But at the station they told us all three had been murdered and David had admitted it. I can’t remember much else.

“I blamed myself for what happened. I still do. If I hadn’t been at work they would still be here. But I couldn’t understand how it had ­happened. David was amazing with the children and even shared a room with Paul. I can’t recognise the man who did those things to my children.”

he reason McGreavy, 21 at the time, gave in court was that Samantha wouldn’t stop crying.

Dorothy and Clive were not allowed to go back to their home because it was a crime scene. They weren’t even allowed to see the bodies in the mortuary.

“All I wanted was to see my babies one last time. I wanted to hold them in my arms and say goodbye. I kept thinking someone was going to tell me there had been a terrible mistake and they were someone else’s children, or that David had lied.”

Dorothy went to stay at her sister Ann’s house while her husband went back to his parents’. “We just stopped talking to one another. I couldn’t cope with the idea of going on without my children.

“Seeing Ann’s two children every day was tearing me apart. I couldn’t take the fact they were still there and my babies weren’t.

“The doctor had prescribed sedatives and anti-depressants and one night I swallowed them all.

“I passed out thinking I was going to join my children but Ann found me. When I woke up on the hospital ward the next day it was like losing them all over again. I haven’t been truly happy a single day since they died.”

After the funeral, and after McGreavy was jailed for life, Dorothy’s marriage crumbled. Her memories of the following years are faint.

“I remember the three little white coffins at the funeral and being in the crematorium with my parents but that’s all. My life had become a blur of terrible pain and the drugs I was prescribed. I never even went back to the house to get my things because it was too painful.

“I had no photos of the children, none of their toys. I only had one little picture my sister gave me. The only thing that brought any comfort was knowing McGreavy would be in prison for life.”

In 1978 Dorothy married Frank Harry, a friend of her parents, but had no more children.

“I’d had complications with my third pregnancy so I couldn’t have any more,” she says. “I wouldn’t have done anyway. Nothing could replace what I had because they were perfect.

“I couldn’t even stand to be around children, especially in my own family. I don’t go to nieces’ and nephews’ birthdays or christenings. It’s not that I don’t love them, but seeing them is a constant reminder that my three are gone.

"It makes me think about what they would look like now. I wonder who they would have married, whether I would be a grand­mother. All those things I had to look forward to have been taken away.”

In 2006 McGreavy was photographed on day release in Liverpool. “When I saw the pictures I was almost sick,” says Dorothy.

“I couldn’t believe he was on the streets around people, around children. Victim support explained McGreavy was eligible to apply for parole. Then I knew I would never rest until he was dead.

“He applied again for parole in 2009 and it was denied but every time he goes for it I'm terrified they’re going to let him out.”

After the pictures were published, McGreavy applied for, and was granted, an anonymity order. He said if his movements were publicised he would be at risk from vigilantes. Meanwhile, Dorothy learnt the full horror of the killings.

“I had always been sheltered from the ­details. I asked a friend to go on the internet and search his name.

“That was when I read how he’d tortured and killed them. It was like going right back to square one.”

Three years ago, after Frank died, she moved in with new partner Bob, but it is too painful to be around when his children and grandson visit.

The High Court withdrew McGreavy’s right to anonymity last week and Dorothy remains in a living nightmare.

In August, a parole board will once again ­consider whether McGreavy is ready to be reintegrated into society. Dorothy has written a letter begging them to keep him behind bars.

“For a long time I wanted answers but now I know I’m not going to get them so I just want him dead so I can be at peace too.”

The Monster of Worcester, David McGreavy's, bids for freedom

WorcesterNews.co.uk

May 23, 2013

THE man dubbed the Monster of Worcester, David McGreavy, has already served 18 years more than the 20-year minimum life sentence imposed by the judge for the horrific slaying of three children in Gillam Street, Worcester, in 1973.

Having exceeded his minimum tariffif, McGreavy, now aged 62, is eligible for parole, but his numerous attempts to gain release have so far failed.

Publicity surrounding the case was a key reason, along with fears for his safety – which is why an anonymity order was imposed in 2009.

And that effectively stopped us from reporting on his continued attempts to win his release.

His counsel Quincy Whitaker told the High Court that naming him would put him in danger from other prison inmates and he had already been the victim of a serious assault.

He had previously spent two years in an open prison until “hostile media coverage” led to him being returned to closed conditions “for his own safety”.

McGreavy was first transferred to category D open conditions as long ago as 1994, but the transfer to Leyhill Prison in south Gloucestershire broke down after other inmates learned of his offence.

He was subsequently returned to category C closed prison conditions, though he retained category-D status.

Since then he has launched a series of bids to win parole.

In February 2009 he unsuccessfully challenged the Home Secretary’s decision that he must remain in category C conditions while undertaking further assessments and work.

The 2009 bid was rejected by Mr Justice Silber – but it was during that case that the judge made the anonymity order that has shielded his identity until yesterday.

McGreavy is currently living in closed conditions in a vulnerable prisoners’ unit.

During yesterday’s High Court ruling, which overturned the anonymity order, it was revealed that McGreavy was the victim of serious assaults while in prison in 1975 and 1996.

There was also a failed attempt to attack him in May 1995 while he was in an open prison.

In January 1991 his cell was fouled when he had been back in closed conditions for only four days.

He was threatened with violence in 1978 and 1994.

The judge said Mc-Greavy’s ninth parole review was under way, and if it was decided that he could be returned to open conditions the Parole Board review would have to consider steps that could be taken to protect him, including the possibility of a new name.

But yesterday Dorothy Fields-Urry, who is the former sister-in-law of Mrs Urry, the mother of Mc-Greavy’s victims, called for his release to be blocked.

“He is the scum of the earth for what he did and he should never be let out," she said.

"It was unbelievable what he did to those children – I think it was the worst thing that I have ever heard.”

Mrs Fields-Urry, from near Andover, Hampshire, added: “I don’t think he has shown any remorse for what he has done and he should stay in prison until he dies.”

'Monster of Worcester should have been hanged' says great aunt of child victims

By James Connell - WorcesterNews.com

May 23, 2013

THE great aunt of three children murdered by David McGreavy said he should have been hanged and he should never now be released or allowed a new identity.

Hazel Nicholls said the killer, now 62, who was jailed for life in 1973 for murdering the children he was babysitting before impaling them on railings in Worcester’s Gillam Street, should never be freed.

The 86-year-old, of Ladygo Lane, Hallow, near Worcester, fought back the tears as she said: “He should never be let out again – never. Life should mean life after what he did.”

She also said he should not be able to “hide” behind a new identity or be transferred to open prison conditions.

“Why should he have any freedom at all? He never gave those poor kids any freedom,” she said.

“He should have been hanged, there’s no doubt about it, he knew what he was doing.”

Ms Nicholls said she was relieved the Press and the justice system seemed to be on the side of the family and not the killer.

Meanwhile, Worcester MP Robin Walker, said: “It’s one of those cases people feel extremely strongly about, given it is such a hideous crime.

“It is one of those cases where people feel life should mean life.

“I find it very difficult to understand how the court can decide that people could be released or moved into a more open system.”

The sheer brutality of the murders carried out by McGreavy shocked and horrified the nation.

To this day, 40 years on, his crimes remain some of the most horrific of modern day killings.

McGreavy murdered three children in Gillam Street, Rainbow Hill, Worcester, then impaled their bodies on railings.

The youngsters – Paul Ralph, aged four, and his sisters Dawn, two, and nine-month-old Samantha were all killed in different ways.

Paul had been strangled, Dawn was found with her throat cut, and Samantha died from a compound fracture to the skull.

McGreavy was a lodger at the home of Clive and Dorothy Ralph in March 1973 after getting to know Mr Ralph at the Vauxhall public house in Rainbow Hill, where they both drank.

The night before the murders, on Thursday, April 12, McGreavy had been left in charge of the three children.

Mr and Mrs Ralph returned home just before midnight to be told by McGreavy that Samantha had been hurt and was bleeding from the mouth.

When they looked at her, they found her right eye bloodshot and her cheek bruised. Her right arm also appeared to be injured because she was not able to use it properly.

The next morning Mrs Ralph took Samantha to hospital where a doctor thought Samantha might have been subjected to some illtreatment at home, but a second doctor failed to read the original notes and sent the toddler back home.

That night, according to what the judge read in court, Mrs Ralph went to work and McGreavy went to the pub.

Mr Ralph also left the house after putting the children to bed and went to collect his wife from work, but first went to get McGreavy to take him home to babysit.

The couple returned home just before midnight and discovered the house in a mess and blood everywhere.

At 1.20am, a police officer found the bodies of the three children impaled on some metal-spiked garden railings between gardens.

Police found McGreavy at 3.05am in nearby Lansdowne Road. He was interviewed in a police car and then taken to a police station.

The next afternoon he began to cry and put his head between his knees.

He said: “It was me, it wasn’t me. She wouldn’t stop crying. I put my hand across her face and carried on from there.”

The judge in the case, Mr Justice Ashworth, said at the time: “There is only one sentence I can pass, and that is life imprisonment.

“But in this case, so appalling to the Crown, and in the public interest so grave as to risk any repetition, I recommend the sentence should not elapse before 20 years.”

David McGreavy: The Monster of Worcester and the sadistic murders that still horrify Britain 40 years on

David McGreavy murdered three young siblings and impaled their bodies on spiked railings in a gruesome case dubbed the 'Friday the 13th Murders'.

Mirror.co.uk

May 22, 2013

It was a brutal, sadistic crime that shook Britain and still horrifies the nation 40 years on.

David McGreavy murdered three young siblings and impaled their bodies on spiked railings in a gruesome case dubbed the 'Friday the 13th Murders'.

McGreavy, then 21, killed four-year-old Paul Ralph and his sisters Dawn, aged two, and nine-month-old Samantha while babysitting at their home in Worcester.

The victims were the children of Clive and Elsie Ralph, who lived in Gillam Street, in Rainbow Hill, Worcester.

McGreavy was a lodger with the tots' parents when he murdered them on April 13, 1973.

r Ralph collected McGreavy to babysit at around 11pm while he went to pick his wife up from work.

When he returned around an hour later, there was no sign of McGreavy or the children so the distraught parents raised the alarm.

At 1.20am, a police officer found the small bodies, impaled on spiked metal railings in the next door neighbour's garden.

The youngsters were all killed in different ways - Paul had been strangled, Dawn was found with her throat cut, and Samantha died from a compound fracture to the skull.

McGreavy was arrested nearby two hours later and confessed to the killings.

Three months later, in July 1973, he was sentenced to life imprisonment.

David McGreavy: Monster of Worcester's crimes shocked a nation

So brutal and sickening were the crimes of child-killer David McGreavy's, he became known as the Monster of Worcester.

By Rosa Silverman - Telegraph.co.uk

May 22, 2013

Even 40 years on, the triple child murders committed by David McGreavy in the city remain among the most horrific of modern day killings.

The now 62-year-old was babysitting for Paul Ralph, four, and his sisters Dawn, two, and nine-month-old Samantha in April 1973 when he struck.

He was lodging with their parents at the time and was left in charge of the infants.

Paul was strangled, Dawn was found with her throat cut and Samantha died from a compound fracture to the skull.

McGreavy then impaled their small bodies on the spiked garden railings of the next door house in Gillam Street.

He was jailed for life for the murders later that year.

The sadistic nature of the crimes shocked and horrified the nation, and many believed he should stay behind bars for the rest of his life.

He became one of the country’s most infamous and longest-serving prisoners – a man who once challenged Ian Brady, the Moors Murderer, to a fight to prove he was the most notorious of the pair.

In 2006 Mike Foster, then MP for Worcester, voiced the local revulsion at the murders that still endured in the city.

"These were indescribable acts of brutality that still sicken the people of Worcester when they recollect the events,” he said, calling for McGreavy to be permanently banned from returning to Worcester.

He added: "My gut instinct is that this man should spend the rest of his life in prison. His crimes were just as terrible as those of other notorious killers, such as Myra Hindley and Ian Brady, for whom life rightly meant life.”

Dorothy Urry, the mother of the children who now lives in Andover, Hampshire, said in 2006, when McGreavy’s release was thought to be imminent: "I cannot believe it. This man took three children's lives. He should have got the electric chair.

"Why should this man be let out of prison? He is still torturing me and this pain is going to be with me until the day I die."

Triple child killer David McGreavy can be named, high court judges rule

Judges revoke 'mistaken' gagging order about coverage of long-serving UK prisoner's parole application

By Alan Travis - TheGuardian.com

May 23, 2013

An anonymity order preventing the naming of one of Britain's most notorious child killers as David McGreavy has been lifted by the high court.

McGreavy, now 62, has spent the past 40 years in prison after being jailed in 1973 for the murders of three infant children in Worcester.

He killed four-year-old Paul Ralph, and his sisters Dawn, aged two, and nine-month-old Samantha, while he was babysitting when he was a lodger at the house. He left their bodies impaled on the iron railings of a neighbour's fence. The only explanation he gave for the murders was that Samantha would not stop crying.

The anonymity order was lifted after a concerted press challenge by the Daily Mail, the Mirror and the Sun, after being alerted by the Press Association, and which had the backing of the justice secretary, Chris Grayling.

The news blackout on naming McGreavy was first imposed in 2009 when a parole board decision not to recommend his transfer to an open prison was challenged in the high court.

At the time, the then justice secretary supported the ban, which was imposed because of fears that publicity about the "monster of Worcester" would put him in danger from other prisoners and disrupt the parole process.

But Lord Justice Pitchford and Mr Justice Simon have ruled that the gagging order should now be discharged. They said in their ruling that while renewed hostility from other prisoners was likely to follow fresh media reporting, there was no real and immediate threat to his life. McGreavy is currently segregated in a vulnerable prisoners' unit where he is closely monitored. He has spent much of his sentence in such units because of the danger to his safety on ordinary prison wings.

McGreavy was given multiple life sentences with a minimum term of 20 years. He has been repeatedly attacked and threatened with violence in prison. In 1991, at Channings Wood prison in Devon his bed was soaked in urine and his cell and property smeared with excrement after only four days on a general wing.

In 1996, he was assaulted by prisoners after a Daily Mirror article about him. In December 2005, efforts to resettle him in a bail hostel supported by the then justice secretary were brought to an immediate halt after a frontpage article in the Sun.

McGreavy was first considered suitable for an open prison 23 years ago. He has fully co-operated with the rehabilitation process and spent much of his time as an artist. The high court ruling states that he has shown a fine ability as an artist.

The challenge to the gagging order by the media, supported by the justice secretary, argued it was legally flawed and wrongly prevented the public from knowing the full facts of the case. The Press Association had previously warned the high court that allowing anonymity in this case would set a precedent for other high-profile prisoners to seek similar orders.

Guy Vassall-Adams, counsel for the press, told the court that full facts of the case were exceptionally horrific even by the standards of murders, yet the order restricted the media from stating that there were three sadistic murders. "That doesn't even give you the half of it," said Vassall-Adams.

He told the judges that arguments about whether the media should be allowed to endanger his life or imperil his chances of rehabilitation did not apply. He said such considerations only applied in cases such as that of Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, who were given new identities after being convicted of murdering James Bulger.

In this case not only had McGreavy's identity been public until 2009 but had been given massive publicity in the past.

The justice secretary welcomed the ruling, saying: "This is a clear victory for open justice. The public has every right to know when serious offenders are taking legal action on matters which relate to their imprisonment."

David McGreavy can be named for murdering three children in 1973

By Richard Hartley-Parkinson - Usaukonline.com

May 22, 2013

A triple-child killer dubbed the Monster of Worcester can today be revealed as the prisoner who tried to use human rights laws to conceal his bid for freedom.

Murderer David McGreavy secured a gagging order in January which prevented him being named by the media.

But today, the judge quashed that ruling after a legal challenge by the Press which revealed the monster’s request to move to an open prison from the closed jail where he is currently placed.

The 62-year-old is considered to be one of the UK's most notorious and longest-serving prisoners after killing the children of Dorothy Urry.

He was lodging with the family in 1973 and was babysitting them when nine-month-old Samantha Ralph began crying for her bottle.

He strangled her then cut the throat of her sister, Dawn, two, before also strangling her four-year-old brother, Paul.

The children were then mutilated before being impaled on railings outside the house.

The Mail led the legal challenge against the anonymity order – which would have kept the public entirely in the dark about the monster’s bid for freedom.

But in a victory for the Daily Mail and Press freedom we can now reveal details of McGreavy's request to be moved to an open prison - one step from being free on our streets.

Care worker Mrs Urry still thinks about her children every day but is glad that he can be named.

The 62-year-old said: 'This is what I've been fighting for.

'People need to know who he is and exactly what he did - he's a monster. Why should his name be kept a secret? He took away my three babies and ruined my life.

If he was released, I'd be waiting outside with a gun. Life should mean life and he should never get to walk free. He got off lightly with a life sentence - he should have been hanged.

'I think about what he did every minute of every day because he took my life away. I can't go to family parties anymore, I can't celebrate anything. Put yourself in my shoes, how would you feel? I can't and will never move on.

'It's too easy for prisoners these days. For what he did to my three children and me, he deserves the same treatment that they got - death.'

Mrs Urry, of Andover, Hampshire, feels that Freedom of Speech is crucial within the media when naming criminals.

She continued: 'Why shouldn't criminals be named? We don't know who we're walking next to these days - the public have a right to know.

'If he was to move next door, you would have to know exactly who and what he was. It may stop people doing what he did if they knew how it ruined lives.'

HOW THE MONSTER OF WORCESTER SHOCKED THE NATION

The sheer brutality of the murders carried out by David McGreavy shocked and horrified the nation.

To this day, 40 years on, his crimes remain some of the most horrific of modern day killings.

McGreavy murdered three children in Gillam Street, Rainbow Hill, Worcester, then impaled their bodies on railings.

The youngsters - Paul Ralph, four, and his sisters Dawn, two, and nine-month-old Samantha were all killed in different ways.

When nine-month-old Samantha Ralph began crying for her bottle, he strangled her.

He cut the throat of her sister, Dawn, two, before strangling her four-year-old brother, Paul.

He then impaled them on the spikes of a neighbour's metal fence.

They were the children of Dorothy Urry, who now lives in Andover, Hampshire.

McGreavy, who was lodging with the tots' parents, was babysitting in April 1973 when he carried out the killings, earning him the title Monster of Worcester.

He was jailed for life for the children's murders in 1973.

The Mail led the legal challenge against the anonymity order – which would have kept the public entirely in the dark about the monster’s bid for freedom.

Justice Secretary Chris Grayling supported the Mail’s challenge. Today he said: 'I welcome the Court's decision. This is a clear victory for open justice.

'The public has every right to know when serious offenders are taking legal action on matters which relate to their imprisonment.'

Counsel to the Press Guy Vassall-Adams told the court that 'the full facts are exceptionally horrific by even the standard of murders.'

The order restricted the media to saying they were 'three sadistic murders - but that doesn't even give you the half of it', said Mr Vassall-Adams.

Mr Vassall-Adams told the judges McGreavy's lawyers were arguing the case was about 'whether the media should be allowed to imperil (McGreavy's) life or scupper his chances of rehabilitation'.

He said those arguments really applied to a different type of case in which individuals - like Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, who killed James Bulger - were provided with a new identity and there were injunctions against the media aimed at protecting them from being attacked while living in the community.

'The injunction protects confidential information, which is the new identities. It doesn't prevent the media reporting what is already public,' said Mr Vassall-Adams.

McGreavy had already been in prison 40 years serving multiple life sentences and there was no imminent prospect of him being released - 'furthermore his identity has not only been public but received massive previous publicity'.

Anyone interested in finding out about his crimes could do so by a click of a button on the internet, Mr Vassall-Adams said.

Not allowing the nature of his victims to be identified 'masked' what the case was about, which was the Parole Board's refusal to recommend that he was fit for open conditions.

'Understanding the nature of the victims and the terrible treatment meted out to them gives a completely different complexion to this whole case,' Mr Vassall-Adams said.

Today Lord Justice Pitchford, sitting in London with Mr Justice Simon, ruled the anonymity order must be discharged.

The judge said that the course adopted by McGreavy's legal advisers when applying for anonymity was 'wrong'. Lord Justice Pitchford said: 'This has been frankly accepted by them.'

The High Court heard McGreavy has now served 18 years in excess of his 20-year tariff - the minimum term he had to serve to meet the demands of retribution and deterrence. Post-tariff, it is for the Parole Board to deem whether it is safe to release him.

But it has become clear that publicity surrounding McGreavy is affecting the parole process and is a key reason, along with fears for his safety, why a cloak of anonymity was first thrown round McGreavy as long ago as 2009.

His counsel Quincy Whitaker told the court that naming him would be in breach of Article Two of the Human Rights Act - the right to life - put him in danger from other prison inmates and he had already been the victim of a serious assault.

He had previously spent two years in an open prison until 'hostile media coverage' led to him being returned to closed conditions 'for his own safety'.

Ms Whitaker said the triple killings were 'notorious', but no concerns had been subsequently raised about his behaviour.

There were 'more than reasonable grounds' for believing that a fair parole hearing could mean him being returned to open conditions, which was a pre-requisite for release from custody.

FROM HUNTER TO HUNTED

1973: David McGreavy murders the three children of the family he is lodging with

1975: He is the victim of a serious assault in prison

1978: Threatened with violence

1991: Prison cell fouled by other inmates just four days after he goes into closed conditions

1994: Threatened with violence after press reports

1995: Several prisoners try to attack him in an open prison but their plan is thwarted

1996: Victim of another serious assault while serving in the general prison population

2005: Threatened with violence after press reports

2006: Pictured in Liverpool where he was visiting a hostel from Ford Open Prison

2009: Unsuccessfully fought Home Secretary's decision that he must remain in Category C prison but was given anonymity order that lasted until today

January 2013: Keeps anonymity as he applies to be moved to an open prison

May 22, 2013: Anonymity order overturned

McGreavy was first transferred to category D open conditions as long ago as 1994, but the transfer to Leyhill Prison in south Gloucestershire broke down after other inmates learned of his offence.

He was subsequently returned to Category C closed prison conditions, though he retained Category D status.

Since then he has launched a series of bids to win parole. In February 2009 he unsuccessfully challenged the Home Secretary's decision that he must remain in Category C conditions while undertaking further assessments and work.

The 2009 bid was rejected by Mr Justice Silber - but it was during that case that the judge made the anonymity order that has shielded his identity until today.

McGreavy is currently living in closed conditions in a vulnerable prisoners' unit.

Lord Justice Pitchford described in his ruling how McGreavy was the victim of a serious assault in 1975, and then again in 1996, while serving his sentence within the general prison population.

An attempt was made by several prisoners to attack him in May 1995 while he was in an open prison but the attempt was thwarted.

In January 1991 his cell was fouled when he had been back in closed conditions for only four days.

He was threatened with violence in 1978 and 1994.

The judge said: 'Threats of violence or a risk of violence appeared to have been precipitated by press reports in 1994, 1996 and 2005.

'On only one of those occasions was an assault committed.'

The judge held out the possibility that in future McGreavy could be allowed a change of name to protect him.

The judge said McGreavy's ninth parole review was under way, with August 1 the target date for a hearing, though it was 'doubtful' that date would be met.

If it was, and there was a recommendation that he be returned to open conditions, it was improbable that could occur before October, said the judge.

If he did go back to open conditions the board review would have to consider steps that could be taken to protect him - 'they might include a change of name'.

McGREAVY TRIED TO USE THE HUMAN RIGHTS ACT TO REMAIN ANONYMOUS

In their attempt to keep his name anonymous, McGreavy's lawyers cited the 1998 Human Rights Act.

McGreavy's Quincy Whitaker told the judge there was 'a serious likelihood of a serious attack' on McGreavy if his identity were revealed.

She argued this would infringe his rights under the 1998 Human Rights Act to not have his life endangered or be subject to inhuman or degrading treatment.

The Act says: 'Everyone's right to life shall be protected by law. No one shall be deprived of his life intentionally save in the execution of a sentence of a court following his conviction of a crime for which this penalty is provided by law.'

The application was made by the man's lawyer, Quincy Whitaker.

Mr Whitaker argued that, under the Human Rights Act, he has a duty to be protected from ill-treatment.

A senior politician, who represented the family of the killer's victims, told the Daily Mail: 'People will be outraged to find out that his case is being held in secret. It is hardly a way for the public to be reassured that the justice system is on their side and not that of the criminals.'