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One of the worst serial killers in British history enjoys a stroll in the sunshine on a day out from his secure unit.

Arsonist Bruce Lee burned 15 victims to death, including little children, during a reign of terror that lasted seven years.

He once boasted that his ambition was to “break the Guinness World Record” for serial killers – and only murdering GP Harold Shipman had a greater death toll in Britain.

But here Lee is seen relaxing on the streets for the first time since he was locked up in 1981, in pictures likely to appal victims still struggling to deal with the legacy of his crimes.

Lee, 55, stretched his legs near the psychiatric unit where he is being held indefinitely, joking with staff as he walked past unsuspecting schoolchildren.

Roz Fenton, who lost her unborn baby after being trapped in one of his blazes said: “He should never be allowed out.”

She was seven months pregnant and suffered 50 per cent burns. Even now, 30 years on, she still suffers regular flashbacks of the day he set her home on fire.

(Image: Sunday Mirror)

She told the Sunday Mirror: “He’s a danger to society. The thought of him walking about near kids sickens me.”

Roz, 63, added: “The police always said we’d be kept informed of what was happening with him at every stage, but we’ve heard nothing about this.”

She was under the impression that he was still locked up at Rampton maximum security hospital where he was a patient for many years.

“The thought of maybe bumping into him in the street one day makes me feel ill. I’d have a heart attack,” she said.

Lee was detained for life under the Mental Health Act at Leeds Crown Court in 1981 for a series of blazes in his ­hometown Hull.

He was accused of murder but a plea of manslaughter was accepted on each count.

By the age of 19, he had killed 15 people including a six-month old baby.

He stalked the streets near Hull’s docks clutching boxes of matches and tins of paraffin, ready to set fires.

(Image: Sunday Mirror)

Three brothers aged eight to 15 perished in his final crime.

A piece of paraffin-soaked paper left at the scene eventually led detectives to Lee, a Kung Fu fanatic who changed his name from Peter Dinsdale in tribute to the martial arts star.

Lee endured a miserable childhood in care homes and claimed he was bullied over a disability which left him with a withered arm and deformed hand.

He told police after his arrest: “Whenever I had enough of people treating me like an animal, I would just go out and set fire to a house.”

Even his own lawyer told the court: “This pathetic nobody has now achieved a notorious immortality.”

And according to his own mother, that is exactly what he set out to do. Doreen, 75, told us: “The last time I saw him he said he wanted to break a Guinness World Record when he was asked why he did what he did.”

In 2005 he married a fellow Rampton patient. They lived on wards 200 yards apart and were banned from consummating their marriage.

Our exclusive pictures show Lee, who told police he was obsessed by fire and hated people, dressed casually in a hoodie emblazoned with the words ‘Lone Wolf’.

(Image: Sunday Mirror)

He was seen repeatedly leaving the clinic run by NHS contractors the Priory Group in the home counties.

His victims included heavily-pregnant Roz and her seven-year-old daughter Samantha, who were lucky to escape alive.

Roz’s husband Terry was working away when Lee poured petrol through the letterbox of her home in July 1979.

She managed to get her daughter out, but went into early labour just minutes later and delivered a stillborn son.

She recalled: “My face was a mess. My chin was stuck to my chest and curtains of burnt skin were hanging from my arms,” said Roz, who needed dozens of skin graft operations over almost two decades.

Today she still takes 14 tablets a day for damage to her heart and lungs caused by the blaze.

(Image: Sunday Mirror)

She went on to have a son James in 1981, but has never forgotten the baby she lost.

She says: “It was just awful. That little baby inside me couldn’t survive the smoke inhalation.

“I know how lucky I am to be here today. I’ve got four grandchildren I’d never have had if Samantha and I hadn’t survived.

“Lee should never be allowed out. He would have been happy to see me and my daughter die that night.”

Others who did not survive Lee’s fires included the three Hastie brothers, aged eight to 15, the three Dickson brothers, aged 16 months to five years, their mother Christine, and baby Katrina Thacker, just six months old.

(Image: Sunday Mirror)

Lee’s mother Doreen, who has not seen her son since he was 19, said this week: “I feel sorry for the people who died.

“But if Peter is getting better then maybe he is ready to be released. I miss him.

"After all, he’s my own. But I wouldn’t want him to come back to Hull if he’s freed.

“It would cause too much pain, especially for the families who have been through a lot.”

A Priory Group spokesman said they were unable to comment on individual patients but took the safety of the wider community “extremely seriously”.