Luton murderer Karl Oakley loses bid for open prison

A man who killed his ex-girlfriend in a “frenzied” knife attack has lost his bid to be transferred to an open prison.

Karl Oakley, from Luton, was given life and a minimum rate of 15 years in 2009 after pleading guilty to the involuntary manslaughter of student Taylor Burrows, 18, on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

He had challenged the Ministry of Justice for its decision to deny him access to open conditions in the Court of Appeal.

in a hearing in October, The lawyers argued that the Parole Board had recommended that he be transferred to an open prison because he had “no more work” to do inside a closed prison.

But in a ruling on Monday, Chief Justice Baroness Carr, sitting alongside Dame Victoria Sharp and Lord Justice William Davis, dismissed Oakley’s appeal and said the Ministry of Justice’s decision to reject the Board’s recommendation of Probation “was totally rational.”

Baroness Carr said the Ministry of Justice had “considered the board’s advice in detail and carefully” and that the department said he needed to undertake further courses in prison before he could be transferred.

The court heard a panel found Oakley was “suitable for open conditions” in 2021, but this was rejected by the Ministry of Justice. In 2023 another offer was presented, which was again rejected in another ruling in February 2024.

Baroness Carr said: “The Secretary of State should consider the board’s advice carefully and give it such weight as is appropriate, given the nature, scope and context of the board’s findings and recommendations.

“But the legal scheme is clear: the Secretary of State is the only one who makes the decisions and the board acts as an advisor.”

In 2010, Oakley had its The minimum prison sentence is reduced on appeal to 12 years..

Oakley and Ms Burrows began a relationship in spring 2008 and he was banned from her family home when she began skipping classes at Luton Sixth Form College.

In 2009, the court heard that he had become increasingly violent and had threatened to kill her the week before her death.

He also had previous convictions for harassing and assaulting other girlfriends.