BRITISH diplomats in Spain have launched a fresh public appeal to help locate a fugitive wanted in connection with a brutal double murder in Liverpool.
The British Embassy in Madrid is appealing to Brits in in Spain for information regarding 45-year-old Kevin Thomas Parle.
Parle remains listed as one of the ‘UK Most Wanted 2026’ fugitives by the National Crime Agency and Merseyside Police.
The massive hunt for Parle has been one of the longest-running fugitive investigations in modern British history.
Security forces have long suspected that the privately-educated Liverpudlian fled to Spain to hide within international expat communities on the Costa del Sol and the Costa Blanca.
The 6ft 6in fugitive, who has distinctive red hair and is known by the alias ‘Hemp’, is wanted for questioning over two separate gangland killings carried out over two decades ago.
The first murder occurred in the early hours of 19 June 2004, when 16-year-old schoolboy Liam Kelly was lured to Grafton Street in the Dingle area of Liverpool and shot dead.
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Parle was arrested by detectives in connection with the teenager’s death but disappeared after being released on police bail pending further enquiries.
Just over a year later, on 3 August 2005, 22-year-old mother-of-three Lucy Hargreaves was shot at point-blank range while sleeping on a sofa at her home in Walton, Liverpool.
The attackers then poured petrol inside the property and set the house on fire with her body inside, forcing her partner and two-year-old daughter to escape by jumping from an upstairs window.
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The high-profile manhunt has previously attracted the attention of former Scotland Yard undercover detective Peter Bleksley, who ran a prominent global independent campaign and podcast to trace the suspect.
Despite previous rewards of up to £20,000 being offered by Merseyside Police and various targeted campaigns in the Spanish coastal hubs, Parle has successfully evaded capture for more than 20 years.
The British Embassy has urged anyone living in or visiting Spain who may have information on his current location to contact the independent charity Crimestoppers completely anonymously.
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