Britain's longest-serving female prisoner, Maria Pearson, to be released

Britain's longest-serving female prisoner is set to be released after a Parole Board panel found she no longer posed a risk to the public.

Maria Pearson, now 70, from Hartlepool, stabbed her ex-boyfriend's new partner Janet Newton to death in 1986 and was jailed for life the following year.

Pearson, 31 at the time, was found guilty of what the trial judge described as "the cruel and vicious" murder of her 23-year-old love rival.

In the Parole Board decision summary, officials said Pearson was in a bigamous relationship with her second husband at the time of the murder, remaining married to her first.

It was when her second partner met Newton, and decided to annul their marriage, Pearson was left fearing she would lose their home and custody of a child.

She tracked Newton's movements and routines, and fatally attacked her as she left her house.

Pearson tried to blame her husband at the trial but that was dismissed, with the judge finding she was "obsessive and jealous", the summary concluded.

The mother-of-three was told she would have to serve a minimum of 12 years behind bars, a prison term she completed in October 1998.

But she has remained behind in jail since, spending two periods in an open prison before being returned to higher-security jails because of concerns about her behaviour.

This is the 10th time that the Parole Board has considered her case, with hearings for the latest review taking place in January and May.