John Lennon’s killer Mark Chapman denied parole

John Lennon’s killer Mark Chapman has been denied parole for the 10th time.

The 63-year-old is serving a life sentence for the murder of the former Beatle in New York in December 1980.

Chapman shot Lennon, then aged 40, four times in front of the musician’s wife, Yoko Ono.

On Wednesday, Chapman appeared before a parole board in New York who denied his request for release and told him he must wait another two years before he can apply again.

The panel found his release “would be incompatible with the welfare and safety of society and would so deprecate the serious nature of the crime as to undermine respect for the law”.

Their decision said: “Your criminal history report reflects that this is your only crime of record.

“However, that does not mitigate your actions.”

Ono, 85, said she feared for the safety of her and Lennon’s two sons, Julian and Sean, should Chapman be released.

Chapman was deemed by the board to be a low risk for offending again and has had a clean prison record since 1994 but the panel found, “nonetheless, none of which outweighs the gravity of your actions or the serious and senseless loss of life you have caused”.

They added: “You admittedly carefully planned and executed the murder of a world-famous person for no reason other than to gain notoriety and while no one person’s life is any more valuable than another’s life, the fact that you chose someone who was not only a world-renowned person and beloved by millions regardless of the pain and suffering you would cause to his family, friends and so many others, you demonstrated a callous disregard for the sanctity of human life and the suffering of others.

“This fact remains a concern to this panel.”

Chapman is being held at the Wende Correctional Facility in New York.