Cannibal killer who boasted of eating parts of mother-of-four with plate of pasta is denied parole for ninth time

Published: 18:26, 29 May 2026 | Updated: 18:58, 29 May 2026 A cannibal killer who boasted eating parts of a mother-of-four with a plate of pasta has been denied parole for the ninth time. David Harker, now 51, killed 32-year-old Julie Paterson in Darlington in 1998 - and only some of her remains have ever been recovered. Harker is serving a life sentence after admitting manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. He was 24 when sentenced in 1999. It was agreed by psychiatrists that Harker had a severe psychopathic disorder when he murdered Ms Paterson, meaning he was not guilty of murder.  He admitted to friends and psychiatrists that after luring Ms Paterson into his home and killing her, he had fried part of her thigh and eaten it with pasta and cheese.  Harker has been eligible for parole since 2013. This month, a ninth hearing was held to determine if he should be sent to an open prison or freed.  The Parole Board concluded it is still not safe to allow Harker to be released or transferred based on the continuing need to protect the public.  It said the law required Harker's case to be assessed regularly. Julie Paterson (pictured) was killed in 1998 by David Harker, who ate her legs after luring her back to his flat Cannibal killer David Harker (pictured) has been denied parole for the ninth time A report into his recent behaviour in custody said it had 'significantly improved', with no disciplinary findings since 2015. Previous decisions had been made using documents, however, this time oral evidence was heard. The panel considered a dossier containing 365 pages of reports, which included submissions on behalf of the Secretary of State arguing against Harker's release. It also heard from the person responsible for managing Harker in jail, two probation officers who would be responsible for managing him in the community, a psychologist and someone who worked alongside him on a programme in prison.  The person who worked with Harker on the programme was not allowed to recommend a course of action, and the others said he did not pass the test for release. Harker was not present and did not make representations.  In its conclusion, a Parole Board summary of the decision said: 'The panel carefully analysed all the evidence and formed its own independent assessment of risk. 'It decided not to direct the release of David Harker, nor to recommend to the Secretary of State that David Harker should be transferred to open conditions.' Police searched nearby sewers and land for the head, arms and legs of Ms Paterson - that still have not been found Police searched through tonnes of rubbish at a landfill site in Durham looking for body parts of Ms Paterson Ms Paterson met Harker in a Darlington pub, where he lured her to his home and the pair had sex. Harker strangled Ms Paterson and raped her corpse before cutting her leg off and cooking her thigh with pasta, garlic and cheese.  Harker then dragged Ms Paterson's body to the basement in his block of flats, keeping her there while he chopped off her arms, leg and head over the course of several weeks. Eventually, he put her partial remains in a bin bag and chucked it into a garden of a house he mistakenly thought was derelict. Harker was caught after boasting to friends he'd 'killed a girl called Julie' but has never revealed the location of the rest of her body. At the time, officers went through 20,000 tons of rubbish at Coxhoe tip, in County Durham, trawling rivers and ponds and searching sewers, with no success. Harker admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and was handed a life sentence at Teesside Crown Court in February 1999.  He has 21 days to appeal for reconsideration on the Parole Board's decision.   The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.