THE Home Secretary has backed calls for a notorious killer who murdered three children in Worcester to be banned from returning to the city.

In a letter to the city's MP Mike Foster, it has been revealed that John Reid took special measures to ensure David McGreavy was refused permission to leave prison.

The 55-year-old was sentenced to life in prison in 1973 after killing Dawn, Samantha and Paul Ralph, whom he was babysitting, and impaling their bodies on railings behind their Gillam Street home.

This week the Worcester News revealed McGreavy's recent application to be freed had been refused.

And it has emerged that Mr Reid took the unusual step of employing a counsel to represent his objections at the Parole Board hearing in Maidstone Prison and commissioned a full psychological report from a clinical forensic psychologist to back his case.

The actions were revealed after Mr Foster wrote to the Home Office demanding McGreavy remain in prison and seeking reassurance he should not be allowed to return to Worcester if he is freed.

In a reply, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State MP Gerry Sutcliffe, said the Home Secretary "strongly opposed" his release and had recommended he should not be allowed to return to Worcester or contact the victims' families if he is freed.

Mr Foster said: "That was one of the things I'd always maintained, that it was important that if the Parole Board had granted McGreavy his freedom, my bottom line was he should never come to Worcester again.

"Clearly the Home Office has taken that on board with their opinion as well and that's what I want to hear from Home Office ministers."

McGreavy was jailed in 1973 - 34 -years ago - when a judge recommended he serve a minimum of 20 years in prison.

The letter confirmed he did have a legal right to have his detention reviewed in the next two years and a date will soon be set by the Home Office.

The responsibility for deciding whether to free him rests with the Parole Board, but under 2004 legislation, the Home Office is required to submit a release plan and can recommend licensing conditions to monitor offenders who have been freed.