The son of a murdered cafe owner is backing calls to keep serial killer Patrick Mackay locked up.

Mackay, who used to live in the Dartford and Gravesend areas, was jailed in 1975, after being convicted of three manslaughters on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Two other cases were put on file and Mackay was linked to a further six killings – including that of Ivy Davies – after allegedly confessing to them but later denied any involvement.

Now Dartford MP Gareth Johnson and Ivy’s son, Victor Davies, are appealing for the Parole Board to take into account those cases as it prepares to discuss whether Mackay is fit for release.

“My point of view is if he’s not willing to put his hand up to the other matters how can he be a reformed character?” said Mr Davies, 63, a coach driver from Millfield, New Ash Green.

“He’s never going to be a reformed character because he’s an utter loony.

“I’m calling for him to not be released. I want him to admit the other matters. How can he be released until he’s done that?”

Ivy Davies, 48, was found battered to death at her home in Westcliff-on-Sea in Essex in February 1975, but despite several leads the culprit has never been brought to justice.

Mr Davies has since discovered information that could help, but says he couldn’t say conclusively whether Mackay was the killer.

“The way she was killed was his MO (modus operandi),” he said.

“She was ripped apart on one side of the body. Whoever did it had undressed my mother, put her in a nightdress and put her on her bad side, then turned the TV on.

“It’s never going to go away,” he added.

“It makes me wonder if anybody is ever convicted whether it will make any difference.

“He’s never going to be a reformed character because he’s an utter loony..." Victor Davies

And he recalled the moment he found out she had been murdered – while he watched the TV news as an 18-year-old from a young offenders' institute.

“I was a naughty boy in the 70s,” he explained. “I broke into shops and stole clothes.

“I went to an open borstal –because I wasn’t a threat and I’ve never been in trouble since – and while I was in that institute I was in charge of the TV.

“That week we had just finished our evening meal and the news came on.

“The first one was a story about Russia and the second was about a murder in Southend.

“All the kids were saying turn the channel over because The Monkeys TV show was going to be on, but I wanted to see about the murder.

“Straight away a picture came up of my mum. They’re saying: ‘Do you know who it was then? Turn it over.’

“The TV went flying and I spent the next two weeks in the hospital wing.”

Mr Davies went on to become an England gymnast and physical training instructor with the Royal Navy, and is now happily married with three grown-up children, but he said the battle for justice had affected his whole life.

Dartford MP Gareth Johnson, who is leading calls for Mackay to be kept locked up, is due to meet Martin Jones, chief executive of the Parole Board, next week, to discuss making representations to a parole hearing in August.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “We sympathise with Ivy Davies’s family but by law they are not entitled to contribute towards the parole process for Patrick Mackay as he was never charged with her murder.”

A statement from Essex Police said Ivy’s murder remained unsolved but was not closed, and that such cases were periodically reviewed.

They added: “We would urge anyone who may have information about Ivy’s murder to do the right thing and come forward. Over time loyalties change, but what has not changed is the pain Ivy’s family endure by knowing that her killer has not yet faced justice.

"Anyone with information can contact Essex Police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.”

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