Woman snatched and raped alongside pal aged 10 demands attacker stays in jail
A woman who was kidnapped and raped as a child is begging parole chiefs to never release the depraved paedophile who subjected her and a friend to a harrowing 75-hour ordeal.
Charlene Lunnon spoke out after predator Alan Hopkinson was granted a hearing which could lead to him walking free by the summer.
She and pal Lisa Hoodless were 10 when they were snatched, held prisoner and raped by the beast.
And traumatised Charlene, 34, has issued a plea that Hopkinson, one of the country’s most dangerous paedophiles, never be freed from jail.
She said: “He is a dangerous man and he will always be a danger to children. I hope he dies in prison.”
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Lisa (left) and Charlene were abducted as they walked to school together (Channel 4)The two girls were on their way to class in 1999 when Hopkinson, a former computer programmer, abducted them. He bundled them into his car boot and drove them to his lair in Eastbourne, East Sussex, where they were repeatedly attacked during four days of hell.
Both girls were tied to beds and threatened with death – and only released when police arrived.
Hopkinson, who had other victims and was handed nine life sentences for his attacks, will face a parole board hearing within weeks.
Charlene and Lisa bravely waived their anonymity in adulthood to write a book about their ordeal, called Abducted.
Charlene said: “It is not safe to let him out on the streets where he could prey on other children, just like he did with me.
“I have been told he still cuts out pictures of children from newspapers and keeps them in his cell.”
Alan Hopkinson got nine life sentences (PA)Charlene added that learning Hopkinson’s parole hearing is due has been frightening for her.
She said: “The Parole Board let me know when the hearing is going to be, so I am forewarned.
“It is clear he hasn’t got any better during his time in prison, so I very much doubt he will be released. But it does give me pangs of fear when I hear his hearing is coming up.”
Charlene is now a mum herself and is petrified at the thought of any harm coming to daughters Laila, 10, and Evie, six.
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She said: “Laila is the age I was and I don’t let her go further than the end of the street on her own. I am very protective of them. It does worry me that she is about to go to secondary school and out into the big wide world on her own.
“Obviously, I have told them all about stranger danger and what not to do if someone approaches them.
“Even as a little girl, I was taught the danger but it didn’t really help me because in the moment you don’t really think, you just react.”
Charlene and Lisa were found safe after their ordeal (Daily Mirror)She now prays the Parole Board will “make the correct decision” and keep vile Hopkinson locked up, adding: “He was sentenced to nine life terms – myself and Lisa weren’t his only victims – and he clearly hasn’t addressed his problem.
“My message would be, ‘Don’t release this man’.”
A Parole Board spokesman said: “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. A panel will carefully examine a huge range of evidence, including details of the original crime, and any evidence of behaviour change, as well as explore the harm done and impact the crime had on the victims.”
Hopkinson, in his late 70s, has been denied parole before.
In 2018, he was caught with DVDs featuring children in his prison cell.
The fiend also kept newspaper photographs of girls wearing ballet dresses and sportswear.
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