- ITV Report
Child killer David McGreavy's identity revealed
A convicted child killer guilty of committing what's been described as one of the most horrific crimes in modern history has had an order protecting his identity overturned.
On 13th October 1973, 21-year old unemployed labourer David McGreavy murdered three young children in Gillam Road in the Rainbow Hill area of Worcester.
McGreavy was left to babysit the children while their father Clive Ralph went to pick up his wife from work.
When Mr Ralph returned shortly before midnight all four of them had disappeared and the alarm was raised.
At 1:20am a police officer found the three children's bodies impaled on a spiked metal fence in their neighbours back garden.
Paul Ralph was four and was found with his two sisters, Dawn who was two and Samantha who was just nine-months-old.
McGreavy was jailed for life and ordered to serve a minimum of 20 years in prison. But he's now exceeded that by 18 years and there've been several attempts by his lawyers for him to be released on parole.
In 1994 he was moved to an open prison but was attacked by inmates because of the high profile of his crimes.
For that reason in 2009 an order was put in place banning the media from reporting his name and details of the triple murder.
His lawyers argued he will never be able to live out of prison if his identity is made public.
Today that ruling was overturned in the High Court.
In a statement Chris Grayling the Justice Secretary Said:
Former MP for Worcester Mike Foster has also welcomed today's ruling.
Mr Foster went on to say he believes the seriousness of the crimes McGreavy committed mean he should spend the rest of his life in prison.
Sentiments echoed by people who still live in the neighbourhood today who remember when three innocent children had their lives taken by a man entrusted to look after them.