Sharon Carr was just 12 years old when she knifed Katie Rackliff more than 30 times as the 18-year-old made her home from a nightclub in June 1992
The youngest female murderer in Britain has been approved for a transfer to an open prison.
Sharon Carr, infamously known as the “Devil’s Daughter”, could soon be free to roam the streets. Carr was merely 12 years old when she brutally stabbed Katie Rackliff over 30 times as the 18-year old was returning home from a nightclub in June 1992.
During her time in prison, Carr has assaulted both inmates and s-aff, even attempting to strangle two nurses. She has expressed a desire to “snap the neck” of one prisoner and was involved in a brawl with another inmate with whom she had been romantically involved.
Carr has been recommended for a transfer to an open prison, which could potentially lead to her release. The final decision now rests with Justice Secretary David Lammy.
A summary of the parole board ruling disclosed that Carr continued to exhibit “evidence of active risk factors during her sentence”. This included “strong sexual attachments or feelings towards others and being unable to cope with rebuffs,” while her positive emotions were observed to “quickly turn to negative attitudes”, reports the Mirror.
Carr has now confessed to murdering Katie and has “shown insight” into her criminal past, according to the document. She has also completed specialist work to help her better comprehend her offending behaviour, the ruling stated.
A prison psychologist opposed her transfer to open conditions and instead recommended “a more challenging specialist regime in a closed prison”, according to the summary. The justice secretary’s representative shared this assessment.
Now 45 years old, this marked Carr’s fifth parole review since her minimum 12-year sentence came to an end in 2009. The sentencing judge, Mr Justice Scott Baker, described her as “an extremely dangerous young woman”.
Carr was initially detained at HMP Holloway before being moved to Broadmoor Hospital in June 1998, then to Rampton Hospital in 2007 and the Orchard Unit in 2008. In 2015, she was returned to the high security women’s prison HMP Bronzefield after posing a risk to both patients and staff.
In 2018, Carr was transferred to HMP Low Newton, but was sent back to Bronzefield following a violent altercation with another inmate in August 2019. A court had previously noted that Carr “formed intense relationships with females that turned into violent fantasies when thwarted”.
She remained under Restricted Prison status, the female equivalent of Category A, until at least 2020 when her legal challenge to be downgraded was unsuccessful.
Katie was discovered dead near a cemetery in Farnborough, Hampshire, on June 7, 1992. The trainee hairdresser was last spotted leaving Ragamuffins nightclub three miles away in Camberley, Surrey.
It wasn’t until four years later, whilst Carr was detained in a young offenders’ institution for stabbing a 13 year old girl in 1994, that she was eventually apprehended. Diaries confiscated by police contained disturbing boasts about the killing.
Entries in her notepad stated: “I wish I could kill you again. I would make you suffer more. Your terrified screams turn me on. I swear I was born to be a murderer. Killing for me is a mass turn on and it makes me so high. Every night, I see the Devil in my dreams.”
Whilst awaiting trial, she was transferred to an assessment centre where she attempted to strangle two nurses. Information regarding the threat she presented five years ago was disclosed by Justice Julian Knowles, who rejected Carr’s challenge to her Restricted Prisoner status.
Justice Knowles stated she had “disclosed thoughts of wanting to murder another resident by splitting her head open with a flask and throwing her down the stairs to snap her neck”.
A spokesperson for the Parole Board said: “We can confirm that the Parole Board refused the release of Sharon Carr but recommended a move to an open conditions prison following an oral hearing. This was a recommendation only and the Secretary of State for Justice considers the advice before making the final decision on whether a prisoner is suitable for open conditions.”
