Published: 03 August ‘2025. The English Chronicle Online
It has been exactly twenty years since Lucy Hargreaves, a young mother of three, was brutally murdered in her Liverpool home—a crime so senseless and horrifying that it still echoes with grief, rage, and frustration. On the morning of August 3, 2005, three masked men broke into her house, shot her dead as she slept peacefully on a sofa, and set the scene alight in an attempt to erase every trace of their violence. Despite countless appeals, years of investigative work, and a manhunt spanning continents, one of Britain’s most-wanted men—Kevin Parle, a key suspect—remains unaccounted for.
The case of Lucy Hargreaves stands as one of the most disturbing unresolved crimes in the UK’s recent history. The randomness of her death—targeted in what is widely believed to have been a revenge attack meant for her boyfriend, Gary Campbell—makes the tragedy even more harrowing. Mr Campbell, who was upstairs with their two-year-old daughter at the time, escaped through a window and tried to save Lucy, but it was too late. The house, engulfed in flames, became the tomb of a completely innocent woman.
Investigators have long believed that the gang was targeting Campbell due to an alleged link to a car accident twelve years prior that killed a young boy. Campbell has always denied being in the stolen vehicle involved in that incident. Regardless of the motives, Lucy Hargreaves had nothing to do with any of it. She was not involved in crime, nor was she known to police—just a young mother, tragically caught in the crossfire of someone else’s reckoning.
In the immediate aftermath of the murder, two men were arrested and charged, but the case against them collapsed due to lack of evidence. Since then, the only enduring name in the investigation has been Kevin Parle—a towering figure at 6ft 5in, red-haired, with a noticeable facial scar. Despite being a fugitive for two decades, there has never been a confirmed sighting of him. The fugitive has effectively vanished, leaving behind a trail of heartbreak and unanswered questions.
Merseyside Police’s Serious Crime Review Unit, still actively working on the case, insists the investigation is far from over. Howard Rubbery, who heads the unit, reiterated Lucy’s innocence and stressed the continuing importance of public help. “She wasn’t from a family of criminality. She wasn’t involved in criminality. The family remain absolutely devastated by Lucy’s death,” he said. “There were three males responsible for this offence and we are looking for justice in relation to all three.”
Parle is also wanted in connection with the murder of 16-year-old Liam Kelly in 2004, the year before Lucy was killed. Kelly’s murder, said to be over a £200 debt, saw Parle arrested and then released on bail, never to return. Since then, speculation has grown that Parle fled the UK, with Spain widely believed to have been his initial hiding ground.
Former Scotland Yard detective Peter Bleksley took the extraordinary step of personally pursuing Parle, launching his own four-year manhunt that resulted in a popular podcast and a published book. Bleksley traced Parle to several possible locations in Spain, including a holiday complex in Torrevieja, where staff claimed he had stayed. Despite being so close, police were always one step behind. “He was bold, brash, and he had a girlfriend at one point,” Bleksley recalled. “The police actually should have captured him there, but they were too late.”
Bleksley is convinced that Parle remains at large only because of extensive protection from international criminal networks. “Kevin Parle has remained hidden because he is funded, protected, looked after, and of huge value to global, serious, and organised crime,” he explained. Such criminals have the means to provide safe houses, false identities, and even, potentially, plastic surgery to change appearances. This may be why sightings from as far as Australia and Dubai have never been verified.
Even after two decades, the pain has not dulled for Lucy’s family. In a statement marking the 20th anniversary of her death, they made an emotional plea to the public: “The way we lost Lucy is not something families can ever truly come to terms with—it is still incredibly difficult and painful to think about. We appeal directly to anyone who knows anything—now is the time.”
Indeed, detectives believe there are people who have never come forward, people who may have heard something, seen something, or been told something. Perhaps they were contacted by the very individuals responsible, using phones or vehicles stolen in the lead-up to the attack. The passage of time may no longer shield those secrets.
Kevin Parle is no ordinary fugitive. If alive, he remains a man with powerful connections, but also a man with a growing list of enemies. As Peter Bleksley noted, “I can think of many reasons why certain criminals would want to get rid of Kevin Parle, because should he flip and become a witness, he could be highly damaging for a lot of very dangerous people.”
The hope for justice now lies in a simple yet difficult ask: for someone, somewhere, to finally speak. Whether driven by conscience, change of heart, or betrayal within criminal ranks, that single act could be the breakthrough Lucy’s family has waited twenty painful years for.
Until then, the shadow of Kevin Parle—and the injustice surrounding Lucy Hargreaves’ death—will continue to haunt the quiet streets of Liverpool and beyond.
