The fight to stop a mass killer being released is to go to the very top.
Huddersfield MP Barry Sheerman is to have a private meeting with Home Secretary Theresa May over the case of Shakiel Amir Shazad.
He was convicted of killing eight people in an horrific firebomb attack on their Birkby home and was expected to appear before the Parole Board this month.
But the hearing has now been put off to the Autumn and campaigners believe they have a chance to persuade authorities he should not be released.
Shazad is following the lead of his co-accused, Nazar Hussain, of Crosland Moor, who has already been freed from jail despite the deaths.
That ruling angered the survivors of the firebomb attack on a Birkby house and the local community.
They have vowed to do all they can to stop Shazad also being freed.
They are also pushing for the feelings of victims to be put before the Parole Board.
Clr Mehboob Khan, leader of Kirklees Council, has been lobbying on behalf of the Chishti family who survived the arson attack.
He said: “While I welcome the delay in the hearing, the Government has made no concessions yet to the victims.
“They should have the chance to have their say to the Parole Board because at the moment the hearings are very one-sided.
“The victims and their relatives do not get to see the evidence on which the Board makes a decision and can have no say in it”.
Mr Sheerman has been told the Parole Board hearing into Shazad’s case has now been delayed until September or October.
The postponement will allow the Probation Service to prepare full reports.
But Mr Sheerman is concerned that in the case of Hussain, reports by both the Probation Service and a clinical psychologist recommending that he should not be freed were overruled by the Parole Board.
The MP said: “Things are moving on this case.
“I have had meetings with officials and am now planning to have a private meeting with the Home Secretary.
“I am hopeful we can make progress.”
The two killers were both convicted of the manslaughter of eight people who died after the firebomb attack at Osborne Road, Birkby, in May 2002.
There are fears that Shazad, of Gledholt Road, Gledholt, could be freed just 11 years after the arson attack.
He and Hussain were both convicted of eight counts of manslaughter, while a third accused, Shaied Iqbal, of Springdale Road, Thornton Lodge, was convicted of eight counts of murder.
Iqbal was the instigator of the attack and was jailed for life after he was convicted of eight murder counts and pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit arson.
Police have a huge operation to track him down.
A spokesman said: “The investigation is still ongoing with several lines of inquiry being examined.
“Nine people are still on police bail in relation to allegations of assisting an offender.”
Those killed in the fire included Nafeesa Aziz, 35, who perished with her five young daughters: Tayyaba Batool, 13; Rabiah Batool, 10; Ateeqa Nawaz, six; Aneesa Nawaz, two, and Najeeba Nawaz, six months.
Nafeesa’s brother, Mohammed Ateeq-ur-Rehman, 18, also died in the flames. Their mother, Zaib-u-Nisa, 54, died later in hospital after leaping from a window.
