A KILLER serving a life sentence got a job at a Next warehouse using an alias, a Sun probe found.
Darren Appleyard was able to join a jail work experience scheme after changing his name by deed poll.
Next bosses had no idea of his true identity or history of violence towards women.
He was convicted of murder and jailed for a minimum 17 years in 2007 for strangling pregnant girlfriend Lisa Collings, 29, in Wigan.
Retailer Next has launched a probe into our shock findings, paused the firm’s role in the scheme and accused the Prison Service of withholding vital information which would have made 52-year-old Appleyard ineligible.
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The scheme was launched in 2018 but was closed to certain prisoners including killers and sex offenders.
Those accepted undergo risk assessments by the Prison Service and Next and are paid the same as other staff.
Next said that Appleyard worked for one week before his real name came to light.
It said: “We have been let down by the Prison Service as disclosure was not as it should have been.”
Murder victim Lisa’s dad Gerry Collings, 67, of Runcorn, Cheshire, said: “It’s scandalous.”
Appleyard is due for release from Doncaster’s HMP Hatfield, an open prison, next year.
A Prison Service spokeswoman said: “Prisoners only ever take part in work experience after robust risk assessments.”
