DOUBLE child killer Colin Pitchfork will be on the sex offenders register when he is released from prison.
The Ministry of Justice has apologised for wrongly claiming he could not be added due to the register not including anyone convicted before 1997.
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Double child killer Colin Pitchfork will be on the sex offenders register when he is released from prison Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd 4
The monster, now in his early 60s, raped and strangled two 15-year-old girls in the 1980s Credit: Rex
The monster was caged for life after raping and strangling 15-year-olds Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth in Leicestershire in 1983 and 1986.
Pitchfork, now in his early 60s, became the first man convicted of murder on the basis of DNA evidence in 1988, after admitting two murders, two rapes, two indecent assaults and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
The MoJ issued a statement at the weekend saying that he would not be placed on the sex offenders register upon release.
But in a clarification on Wednesday, said the opposite was true.
The department said it "sincerely apologised" for the error but stressed that the terms of Pitchfork's lifetime licence will be more stringent than the conditions of the register.
Pitchfork was handed a 30-year minimum term but that was cut by two years in 2009, and he was moved to an open prison three years ago.
Following a hearing in March, the Parole Board ruled he was "suitable for release", despite this being denied in 2016 and 2018.
Last month Justice Secretary Robert Buckland asked the board, which is independent of the Government, to re-examine the decision under the so-called reconsideration mechanism, but his application was refused.
A spokeswoman for the MoJ said: "Colin Pitchfork has always been eligible for the sex offenders register and will be added to it upon release.
"Additionally, he will be subject to far stricter supervision and conditions as a result of his life licence and if he breaches these, he faces being sent back to prison."
Dawn's mother Barbara, 75, described the U-turn as a "great relief".
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Those signing the register have to notify police of all foreign travel, if they are living in a household with a minor, and have to provide officers with financial details, such as bank accounts and credit cards, as well as their passport information and national insurance number.
The Government plans to overhaul the parole system, with the findings of a review expected later this year.
It has also sought to change the law so child-killers face life behind bars without parole.
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Pitchfork killed 15-year-old Dawn Ashworth in 1986 4
Schoolgirl Lynda Mann, 15, was found raped and strangled in Narborough, Leicestershire
Fury as Sir Keir Starmer backs release of double child killer Colin Pitchfork who raped and murdered two teen girls