Sophie Lancaster killer to walk free despite denying he took part in attack on her

Sophie Lancaster killer to walk free despite denying he took part in attack on her EXCLUSIVE: Brendan Harris admitted attacking Sophie Lancaster's boyfriend, Robert Maltby, but said he had "not struck" the 20-year-old woman in Stubbylee Park in Bacup, Lancashire A "feral thug" convicted of murdering Sophie Lancaster because she was dressed as a goth was cleared for release despite denying attacking her, the Mirror can reveal. Brendan Harris was jailed for killing Sophie, 20, as she begged a gang to stop attacking her 21-year-old boyfriend Robert Maltby. Harris was jailed for at least 18 years in 2008 but after a Parole Board review last year was deemed fit for release. Now, it has emerged that earlier this year the then-Justice Secretary David Lammy launched a last ditch bid to block his release. Documents reveal Harris, now 34, accepted attacking Mr Maltby - but sickeningly denied "personal involvement in the violence inflicted upon" Sophie. Parole Board paperwork states: "[Harris] accepted that he had attacked the male victim but said that when the female victim came to comfort the male victim he had not struck her. However, he accepted that the offences amounted to a group attack and that he was part of that group and was therefore responsible, as were others, for the death of the female victim." Harris was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and moved to a psychiatric hospital, where, in 2013, he broke the nose of a male nurse with what a court heard was a single substantial blow. He was convicted of causing grievous bodily harm and four months was added to his life sentence, returning to prison in 2014. Harris' parole hearing took place in November last year but Mr Lammy launched an appeal against the decision to free him, claiming he had never accepted his guilt over Sophie's murder. But Stephen Dawson, on behalf of the Parole Board, dismissed the appeal, meaning Harris will now be freed. Mr Dawson said: "This was not a case where [Harris] was denying the nature and seriousness of the offending. His denial was of the issue of factual detail as to whether he physically assaulted the female victim. The significant issue identified by the panel was the fact that [Harris] accepted that his behaviour led to the death and serious injury of two victims." Harris' accomplice Ryan Herbert, who was 16 at the time of the 2007 attack, was paroled three years ago. The parole board said Herbert, who admitted murder and got a 16-year term, had made "significant changes to his life" while in prison. Sophie's mother Sylvia died weeks after his release, but had said: "We have a justice system that fails to deliver justice. However they have progressed, the minimum justice for the family is them serving the sentence they were given. Her attackers may not have been given a life sentence, but I have." The thugs, from Bacup, Lancashire, who had been drinking heavily, and three other teenagers savagely attacked Robert Maltby, 21, in a local park. When student Sophie, cradling her boyfriend, pleaded with them to stop they turned on her. When medics arrived their injuries were so severe they could not tell them apart. Both fell into comas. Robert survived but Sophie died 13 days later. The other teenagers were also jailed. In 2008, Judge Anthony Russell QC said: "This was feral thuggery. At least wild animals, when they hunt in packs, have a legitimate reason. This was a hate crime against people because their appearance was different." The Sophie Lancaster Foundation was founded in 2009 to challenge prejudice and intolerance. In 2021, Sophie's tragic story was the basis for part of a Coronation Street storyline in which characters Nina Lucas and Seb Franklin were beaten in an unprovoked attack. When the storyline was first discussed, producers and the research team approached Sylvia. "I know first-hand the abuse, harassment and violence that alternative people suffer," she explained to The Mirror at the time. "Hate crime is usually directed at already stigmatised and minority groups and Sophie was assaulted three times before that final, sustained and brutal attack that took her life -but she never reported the earlier assaults. "Coronation Street covering this issue means such a huge amount to me. We want alternative people to know that they shouldn’t be putting up with this prejudice and intolerance, and they should report it. "We want the wider community to really appreciate the horror of this violence and understand that difference in itself, is not frightening, it just makes us all who we are. We will also use this platform to continue raising awareness of Sophie’s case with the police and judiciary to make sure that hate crime against alternative people is recognised and treated with the degree of severity that it deserves."