Kevin Parle: The hunt for Britain's most wanted man
Rob Rinder: The Crime I Can't ForgetThe case of Kevin Parle is one of the most significant unsolved murder cases in British criminal history. For more than 20 years, the families of his alleged victims have waited for justice, while Parle himself has remained beyond the reach of police. He is wanted in connection with the murders of Liam Kelly, aged 16, in 2004 and Lucy Hargreaves, aged 22, in 2005.
The case holds particular significance for British criminal barrister Rob Rinder. Crime+Investigation tells the full story of how the case unravelled, its emotional impact and Rinder's involvement in Rob Rinder: The Crime I Can't Forget, available from Monday 8th June.
Who is Kevin Parle?
Kevin Thomas Parle was privately educated and hails from Liverpool. He was in his mid-twenties at the time of his alleged crimes and would now, in 2026, be in his forties.
On the National Crime Agency's most wanted page, he is described as a white man between 195 and 200cm tall with a stocky build, blue eyes, a scar on the left side of his head, and ginger hair – though there is a strong chance he may have shaved or dyed it. Parle is also known to have used the names "Joseph" and "Hemp."
The alleged crimes of Kevin Parle: The murder of Liam Kelly
Parle is linked to two murders in Liverpool. The first occurred on 19th June 2004, when 16-year-old Liam Kelly was approached by two armed men as he got out of a car on Grafton Street, Dingle. He was shot in the arm and chest with a shotgun. Liam tried to reach help by crawling to a nearby house, but died shortly afterwards. Parle is believed to have been the man who pulled the trigger.
Liam was thought to have owed a man named Anthony Campbell £200. Campbell admitted to arranging his murder and received a life sentence with a minimum term of 20 years. Another man, Peter Sinclair, admitted to assisting the alleged gunman, who he identified as Parle. Parle was arrested and questioned but released on bail. By the time Campbell and Sinclair were charged, he had already fled.
The alleged crimes of Kevin Parle: The murder of Lucy Hargreaves
Just over a year later, in the early hours of 3rd August 2005, 22-year-old mother of three Lucy Hargreaves was asleep on the sofa at her home on Lambourne Road in Walton, Liverpool. Three masked men broke in and shot her three times with a shotgun. Her partner, Gary Campbell, and their two-year-old daughter were asleep upstairs. Lucy's other two children were staying with their grandparents at the time.
Gary was woken by a scream. The attackers poured petrol at the bottom of the stairs and set the house alight. Gary escaped by jumping from an upstairs window with their daughter, then returned to the burning house in an attempt to reach Lucy, but she had already died from her wounds.
Two men, Kirk Bradley and Tony Downes, stood trial in 2007 for Lucy's murder at Liverpool Crown Court. The case against both men was dismissed midway through when the judge ruled there was insufficient evidence to proceed, and they were acquitted. Parle was named by the police as a wanted suspect throughout.
The murder was believed to have been a revenge attack on Gary Campbell. The court heard that in 1993, he had allegedly been a passenger in a stolen vehicle that had mounted a curb and killed four-year-old Kevin Downes, the younger brother of Tony Downes. He denied he was in the car at the time.
Bradley and Downes were later convicted and received life sentences in a separate case relating to their roles in a Merseyside gang war.
The manhunt for Kevin Parle
Parle disappeared in 2005 and has been the subject of repeated high-profile appeals ever since. Crimestoppers campaigns, media coverage, billboards and cash rewards have all failed to produce a confirmed sighting. Reported rumours of him being in Dubai, Australia and Spain have not led to any credible leads.
In 2019, retired Metropolitan Police detective and former Hunted presenter Peter Bleksley launched his own personal manhunt for Parle, spending years and tens of thousands of pounds pursuing the case. Despite his efforts, Parle's whereabouts remain unknown. The search continues to this day.
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