'Feral thug' who murdered Sophie Lancaster for being dressed as a goth in 2007 cleared for release despite denying he even touched her

The last ‘feral thug’ still behind bars for kicking and stamping Sophie Lancaster to death for being dressed as a goth has been cleared for release - despite denying attacking her.Sophie, 20, spent her last moments cradling her boyfriend's head in her lap as teenage thugs Ryan Herbert and Brendan Harris kicked and beat her unconscious. Witnesses claimed the attackers celebrated afterwards, boasting: 'There's two moshers nearly dead up there - you wanna see them - they're a right mess.’Sophie's 2007 killing in a park in Bacup, Lancashire, sparked a wave of revulsion, with her mother Sylvia later appointed OBE after campaigning to have attacks on members of alternative sub-cultures designated hate crimes.Herbert was cleared for release on licence in 2022 after the Parole Board ruled he had made 'significant changes to his life which reflected his remorse, his insight and increased maturity'.Even though Harris, now 35, broke a nurse’s nose during his time in custody, the Parole Board concluded in May that he no longer poses a risk to the public.However it emerged today that David Lammy launched a last-ditch effort to block his release before being sacked as Justice Secretary on the grounds that Harris never accepted his guilt for killing Sophie.But his appeal has been rejected – despite Harris denying 'personal involvement in the violence' inflicted upon her – meaning he can now be freed. Brendan Harris (pictured), was found guilty of Sophie's murder in 2008 and jailed for life with a minimum term of 18 years Sophie Lancaster (pictured), 20, spent her last moments cradling her partner's head in her lap as thugs kicked and beat her unconscious. She died in hospital two weeks laterHe now maintains he only beat up Sophie's 21-year-old boyfriend, Robert Maltby, the Mirror reported. Dismissing Mr Lammy's appeal, Parole Board officials ruled that Harris 'accepted that he had attacked the male victim [Mr Maltby] but said that when the female victim [Sophie] came to comfort the male victim he had not struck her'.But Harris accepted taking part in a 'group attack' and that he was 'therefore responsible, as were others, for the death of the female victim'.Rejecting the appeal, Stephen Dawson said Harris was not 'denying the nature and seriousness of the offending'. 'His denial was of the issue of factual detail as to whether he physically assaulted the female victim,' Mr Dawson added, saying Harris 'accepted that his behaviour led to the death and serious injury of two victims'. Herbert, then aged 16, admitted Sophie’s murder, while Harris was convicted of the same offence after a trial.Aged 15 at the time, and fuelled by cider, Stella Artois lager and peach schnapps, Harris admitted starting the frenzied attack, saying he was 'drunk and showing off'.He launched a volley of kicks at Sophie's face, his trial heard. Sophie's boyfriend Robert Maltby, pictured ahead of her funeral in 2007 Sophie's mother, Dr Sylvia Lancaster OBE, who died in 2022, previously said she was 'very disappointed' by the release of Ryan Herbert for murdering her daughterA judge imposed life sentences on both teenagers for what he branded their ‘feral thuggery’.Both were also convicted of grievous bodily harm (GBH) against Mr Maltby along with three other teenagers.When Herbert was cleared for release in 2022, Sophie’s mother said she was ‘very disappointed’, saying: ‘Once again we have a justice system that fails to deliver justice. ‘However much progress people make in prison, they have been given their sentence in recognition of the extent of their crime,’ she added.‘Her attackers may not have been given a life sentence, but I have.’Tragically Dr Lancaster died suddenly in hospital just a month later. After Harris was also cleared for release in May 2026, the Sophie Lancaster Foundation – which was set up in her name to tackle prejudice – responded by saying its focus was on 'all victims of hate crime' as well as 'those whose lives have been irrevocably changed by hatred and violence'. While serving his sentence, Harris was transferred to a psychiatric hospital after being diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Ryan Herbert (pictured) was 16 when he and a group of friends viciously beat Robert Maltby in a park in Bacup, Lancashire, in 2007, before turning on his girlfriend Sophie Lancaster, who was fatally attacked while trying to defend him (Left to right) Daniel Mallett, Danny Hulme and Joseph Hulme who were also convicted for their part in the assault on Robert Maltby and Sophie LancasterBut in 2013 he broke the nose of a male nurse with what a court heard was a single ‘substantial’ blow.He was convicted of causing GBH and four months was added to his life sentence, returning to prison in 2014.Harris reached the end of his minimum term in August 2025, meaning he became eligible for parole. In its original decision, a Parole Board panel recommended that he should be released on licence, subject to strict conditions, with a panel saying he had ‘not displayed any violence for over 13 years’.Following the attack on the nurse he went on to complete a programme to address his use of violence, a public summary revealed.His 'behaviour in the prison had been good,’ it stated.Proposed terms of his release included being of good behaviour, disclosing developing relationships with his probation officer, adhering to a curfew and submitting to alcohol monitoring and drug testing.He must also abide by an exclusion zone to avoid contact with victims and continue work to address his risk factors.The Parole Board was approached for comment. In 2021 Sophie's mother worked with Coronation Street producers on a hard-hitting storyline about hate crime.In the show, characters Nina Lucas and Seb Franklin were violently attacked because of the former's appearance by a gang of drunken youths.The storyline had many similarities to what happened to Sophie. Sophie Lancaster: The girl murdered for looking like a Goth Pictured in hospital after she was attacked, Sophie Lancaster died 13 days laterSophie Lancaster was murdered aged 20 in 2007 by a number of teenage boys who attacked her and her boyfriend Robert Maltby, then 21, while they walked through Stubbylee Park, Lancashire, on August 11.Police believe the attack was linked to the couple wearing gothic clothes.A 15-year-old witness told police: 'They were running over and just kicking her in the head, and jumping up and down on her head.'Police said it was 'a sustained attack during the course of which the pair received serious head injuries and their faces were so swollen we could not ascertain which one was female and which one was male'. Robert also fell into a coma before gradually recovering. He has no memory of the attack. Witnesses claimed the attackers celebrated afterwards, boasting: 'There's two moshers nearly dead up - you wanna see them - they're a right mess.'Sophie went into a coma and died 13 days after the attack due to severe head injuries. She was placed on life support, which hospital staff terminated after determining she would never regain consciousness. At the trial in 2008, the prosecution told the hearing: 'Sophie and Robert were singled out not for anything they had said or done, but because they looked and dressed differently.'Sophie's mother Sylvia, who later founded the Sophie Lancaster Foundation, said: 'The thing that makes me most angry is that it is seen as an isolated incident, maybe the seriousness of what happened to Sophie is isolated, but attacks are far from isolated. Just because you follow a different culture you are targeted; you are seen as easy pickings.'The Sophie Lancaster Foundation was set up to challenge prejudice towards people from alternative subcultures and to campaign for hate crime legislation to be extended to include such individuals.