Parole Board dashes Kray's hopes of imminent release

THE GANGLAND killer Reggie Kray was told yesterday he will not be released for at least two years.

Kray, serving 30 years for the murder of Jack "the Hat" McVitie, had hoped to be released on parole or moved to an open prison in preparation for his release. But prison sources confirmed yesterday that the killer was told that the Parole Board, which heard his case last month, had vetoed his application. The Board will not reconsider his case for a further two years, the source said.

His friends have been campaigning for his release and Kray, 64, had been planning to settle in East Anglia with his new wife Roberta, 38, whom he married in Maidstone Prison.

When he was transferred to Wayland Prison, Norfolk, last August she moved to the county to be near him and the pair planned to run a recording studio after his release.

Kray's case was reviewed because he is nearing the end of a minimum 30- year term next month. The minimum term was imposed for "retribution and deterrence" at Kray's Old Bailey trial in 1969 but ends next month because the gangster was arrested in 1968.

Members of the Parole Board are believed to have studied psychiatrists' and probation officers' reports which suggested he represented minimum risk if released. Their reasons for rejecting his application have been given in writing but even if parole or a move to an open prison had been recommended the final decision would rest with the Home Secretary, Jack Straw.

In 1969, Kray and his twin brother Ronnie were sentenced to life for the murder of Jack McVitie and George Cornell.

Ronnie Kray died of a heart attack three years ago at Broadmoor top security hospital and was given a traditional East End funeral.