Man Convicted For Rape, Murder Of 6-Year-Old Girl Changes His Name After Being Released From Jail

A Scottish child killer, who was released after serving 35 years in jail, is trying to hide his identity by changing his real name.

Adam Stein, of Glasgow in Scotland, was released from prison in March this year after he spent 35 years in jail for murdering 6-year-old Collette Gallacher, of Corby, Northamptonshire, in 1986.

The family of the victim has expressed their disapproval after the now 61-year-old convict was legally allowed to change his name.

"The public deserves to know who he is," Gallacher’s sister, Claire Holmes, told the Daily Record.

"How can someone rape and murder a child and then be allowed to go and change their name?"

Stein abducted the 6-year-old while she was on her way to catch the school bus. He lured her into his apartment where he lived alone after his wife left him.

Stein raped the child and suffocated her to death. The girl’s body was found in his loft five days after she had vanished.

He was jailed for life for the brutal murder and has not been publicly pictured ever since.

Stein was released in 2016 but was recalled to prison a year later for breaching the terms of his parole.

A woman, who unwittingly formed a relationship with the convict, said he used the surname Scott, and described him as a "master manipulator".

Claire and her sister Lauren Holmes filed a formal complaint to the East of England National Probation Service (NPS) about his previous release.

The sisters expressed a series of concerns, saying he was "insufficiently monitored" and that they should have been informed about his name change.

The NPS launched an investigation based on the complaint but found no wrongdoing.

"Any individual in the UK has the right to change his name through legal means," the probation service said.

"The rationale for licensees choosing to undertake this course of action can often be underpinned by their concerns about their own safety and/or to support their rehabilitation within the community."

All agencies involved with Stein were updated about his new name, the service added, but the information cannot be shared with the victim's family as it may undermine their duty to uphold his "legal right to have his private life respected".

"It’s all about his protection, his privacy, and human rights," Claire said.

"The authorities knew about the name change but we weren’t on that list of people who should be told. That was a bit of a tough pill to swallow."

The sisters have been campaigning tirelessly to have Stein’s name added to the sex offenders’ register (SOR) after learning that sexual offenders who committed crimes prior to its creation in 1997 were not added to the list.

Justice Secretary Robert Buckland has now confirmed that Stein's name is on the register.

"We have got Stein on the register but we will keep going for other families," Claire added,