Notorious rapist once branded 'Britain’s most wanted man' set for jail release after 34 years

29.12.2022 - 23:17 / dailyrecord.co.uk

A notorious rapist - once branded Britain’s most wanted man - is set to be released from prison after being locked up for the last 34 years.

Andrew Barlow was convicted of 11 rapes, three attempted rapes, indecent assault, and using a firearm to resist arrest.

He was handed multiple life sentences in 1988 and his tariff was fixed at 20 years.

And it has emerged Barlow has already spent time outside of jail as he prepares to taste freedom.

In recent decades, Barlow, formerly Andrew Longmire, has been linked to more offending as previously unsolved cases were cracked.

He went on two separate campaigns of terror between 1981 and 1988, raping women in five different counties.

During his arrest in January 1988, Barlow opened fire with a shotgun as police officers detained him.

As most of his victims were attacked in their own terraced homes in the north of England - the majority in Manchester - he was dubbed ‘The Coronation Street rapist’. Two of the attacks took place in the street.

Preying upon teenagers and young mother, he would conduct days of reconnaissance to work out their domestic routines, attacking the victims when husbands or partners had left for work.

Barlow, who lived in Bolton and Oldham, was a Category A prisoner until this was downgraded to B in 2010.

The Parole Board confirmed his imminent release, reports the Manchester Evening News, after a decision made on November 30.

It was the eighth time his case had been reviewed by the board since the end of his 20-year tariff.

A Parole Board Decision Summary said Barlow had “successfully undertaken periods of temporary release where he was escorted by a prison officer”.

The summary added: “The panel examined the release plan provided by Mr Barlow’s probation officer and