Wendy Speakes murder: Daughter determined to keep shoe fetish killer in jail 30 years after brutal killing

The brutality of the random killing, on March 15, 1994, shocked the city.

Farrow forced his way into the 51-year-old receptionist’s home in Balne Lane before tying her up and forcing her to wear a pair of blue mule shoes.

She was then subjected to a sex attack and stabbed to death.

It took police six years to catch Farrow after advances in fingerprint technology.

He was given a life sentence in 2000 and ordered to serve at least 18 years in custody.

Since completing his minimum tariff, Mrs Speakes’ daughter, Tracey Millington-Jones, has campaigned to keep Farrow locked up.

Determined he will kill again if ever released, Tracey attends Farrow’s Parole Board hearings every two years to warn decision makers of her fears.

She also tells them of the heartbreak her family continues to suffer.

Tracey said: “Once someone is locked away for a crime like that people think that’s it, that they won’t ever come out again. But they do.

“I have to live with the likelihood that he may be released one day soon.

“I think if Farrow was sentenced today his minimum term would have been double what he actually got.

“Or they would have thrown away the key because of the other women he stalked.

“It wasn’t an isolated incident. This man had a thirst for murder.

“He will strike again if he ever comes out. The thought of that keeps me going.”

At his sentencing, Farrow also admitted the attempted burglary of another woman’s house with intent to commit a sexual offence.

The incident took place less than an hour before the attack on Mrs Speaks.

Farrow, from Cookridge, Leeds, had followed a 24-year-old barmaid for several days before unsuccessfully trying to get into her home.

He then targeted Mrs Speakes, who he spoke to on her doorstep, before forcing his way into her house.

Farrow also faced attempted burglary charges in connection with an incident in Meltham, Huddersfield, where he is thought to have tricked his way into another woman’s home before she alerted a neighbour.

He denied involvement and the charge was left on file.

“This is why it is important to keep up the awareness of what sort of person he is,” Tracey said.

“He’s not going to change what’s in his DNA.”

Tracey, who now lives in Essex, said she has been in contact with other relatives of murder victims over the parole process.

They plan to lobby the government to increase the length of time a prisoner must wait following a failed release application.

Tracey explained: “Next May will be my fourth hearing in six years.

“I feel I never get time to catch a breath.

“I spend months preparing a victim impact statement then have to face the ordeal of going into the prison the man who murdered my mum is being kept to read it out.

“As soon as it’s over you are thinking about the next hearing straight away.

“It feels like a constant process for victims. Something we have to go through over and over again

“The alternative is that you don’t put yourself through it and walk away.

“Some people do that because it is so tough and you have to be strong.

“But I can’t do that. I feel that I would be letting my mum down and I would be letting down women in general.

“There is no way I am ever going to give up.”

Farrow’s last parole bid was rejected in June last year.

Documents seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) state Farrow is “likely to re-offend” if released from custody.

After a hearing in 2018 the Parole Board recommended Farrow be moved to an open prison in preparation for release but he was soon returned to a secure prison.

In 2020 he was assessed as unsuitable for release.

Tracey added: “We have a general election coming and there is so much going on in the world right now.

“It will take time, there will be legal challenges, we need to get a lot of people involved.

“It will be a big ask and it will be hard work. But I think it is the little people who can make change happen.”

Farrow is currently being held in HMP Whatton, a category C prison in Nottinghamshire.

The father-of-three was caught after a six-year manhunt when advances in fingerprint technology linked him to a partial print found at the scene.

Farrow’s fingerprints were taken by police after he was arrested for drink-driving while he was still at large following the murder.

Tracey said she will mark the 30th anniversary of Mrs Speakes’ death with her daughter Emmeline.

She said: “We are just going to have a quiet one and think about mum.

“I still think about her every day

“There is always something to remind me of her. It might be a song, a smell or someone who looks like her.

“You learn to live without the people you love. But sometimes it will just pop into my head that I am never ever going to see her again.

“But it is one of those things that you have to accept. It’s easy to say time helps, and it does.

“I have somehow managed get on with my life over the last 30 years.

“But mum should be with us and he has robbed us of that.

“There are still two elements to this case as I see it.

“Justice and the safety of women. Especially the women of Yorkshire.”