Longest-serving female prisoner Maria Pearson jailed for Hartlepool murder bids to be released
The UK's longest-serving female prisoner who stalked and stabbed her ex-partner's new girlfriend could be freed from jail pending a parole review.
Maria Theresa Pearson has been in prison for the murder of 23-year-old Janet Newton since 1987 and is believed to be the UK's longest serving female inmate.
The mother-of-three stabbed Ms Newton in the heart twice in a frenzied attack in Grange Road, Hartlepool, on 18 October 1986.
Pearson stabbed the building society clerk across her head and body a total of 17 times.
Ms Newton was left lying in a pool of blood and when Pearson's trial took place at Teesside Crown Court the jury was told she was full of "jealousy and bitterness."
The murder happened just two days after Pearson's bigamous ex-husband, Malcolm Pearson, became engaged to Ms Newton.
Pearson was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment on 24 July 1987.
The Ministry of Justice said it did not know of any female prisoner who had served longer than Pearson.
Pearson, 66 - sometimes known as the UK's "forgotten inmate" - has currently served only one year less than that served by infamous child killer Myra Hindley.
Pearson lived on Wordsworth Avenue in Hartlepool, had two children and was married twice before meeting welder Malcolm Pearson in July, 1983.
They married in February 1986 just days after the birth of their daughter, Rachel - Pearson's third child.
Her relationship with Mr Pearson was described as "stormy and violent" and they separated after only one month of marriage.
The Lord Chief Justice described Pearson as "deeply hostile and resentful" of Mr Pearson's relationship with Ms Newton.
Pearson was 31 when she was jailed and has served an extra 23 years on top of her minimum term of 12 years.
She appealed her conviction in 1988 citing her "mental and physical" state of mind but the following year admitted killing ms Newton as an act of "self-defence and provocation", with her appeal saying she appeared to be suffering from post-natal depression and pre-menstrual tension.
The Court of Appeal dismissed the application and the case was taken to the Home Secretary.
Following a series of requests, the sixth and final was heard on 15 September, 1998 and was unsuccessful.
In 2006, the then Home Secretary John Reid, rejected a Parole Board recommendation for Pearson to be moved to an open prison due to concerns over Pearson's history of "manipulating" prison staff.
The judge said the killer was still "in denial", showing limited sympathy for her victim.
Rejecting her claim of "political motivation", the judge said he could detect no legal flaw in the Secretary of State's decision.
A previous stint in an open jail, in 2004, ended after three months when Pearson was accused of intimidation and bullying and sent back to a closed prison.
She had shown a negative attitude to authority and an unresponsiveness to treatment and an unwillingness, or inability, to conform.
Pearson's last review in July 2020 was rejected, partly because of her poor behaviour in prison.
She has made another appeal to the Parole Board, which held a hearing last month.
A Parole Board spokesperson said it was adjourned to allow for further information to be gathered.
Extra checks were ordered including psychiatric reports, the views of jail officials and plans to manage Pearson in the community.
A Parole Board spokesperson said: "Parole Board decisions are solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public if released and whether that risk is manageable in the community.
"Parole reviews are undertaken thoroughly and with extreme care. Protecting the public is our number one priority.”
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