WE’VE BEEN LET DOWN
FATHER OF MURDERED MORGAN CALLS FOR REVIEW AFTER REVEALING KILLER HAD BEEN ARRESTED 3 TIMES IN 4 MONTHS BEFORE FATAL STABBING
The whole system is geared towards supporting the criminal, it forgets the victim. Colin Hehir
A NUNEATON dad whose son was tragically murdered has claimed his family were let down by the system.
Morgan Hehir’s murderer was a convicted killer who was released from prison and arrested THREE times in the four months before he took Morgan’s life.
Colin Hehir says the cruel killer was a “ticking time bomb” and is now calling for a review into how the police prevent criminals reoffending.
His comments come almost a year after his son’s killer was handed a life-sentence for murdering hospital worker Morgan just four months after he was released from prison.
Colin wants to close a loophole that he believes led to the murder of his ever-smiling, funloving son Morgan.
Having kept tight-lipped for the past 12 months, Colin has ended his silence about how convicted killer Declan Gray was allowed to murder his beloved son despite being arrested for another violent incident involving a knife just weeks before.
Gray was arrested three times in the four months between him being released from prison and cruelly taking the life of the 20-year-old in Pool Bank Street on Halloween night back in 2015.
On each occasion the victim did not want to press charges, so no police action could be taken.
Having completed his full sentence for a previous conviction for manslaughter, under Government guidelines Declan was not being supervised. “He (Declan) was like a ticking time bomb, it was only a matter of time before he seriously hurt someone, but it seemed that they (the police) could not do anything until he actually killed someone,” Colin said. Now Colin wants a review or an independent inquiry to be held into his son’s case, and to close the loophole that allows some convicted killers to be released from prison without supervision.
“Ultimately it is too late for us, the damage has been done, it is irreparable but we never want this to happen to another family,” he said.
“The police are saying that they couldn’t do any more, but I would just like a review into it.
“The whole system is geared towards supporting the criminal, it forgets the victim, they (the criminals) are so well kept in terms of their rights, but what about the victim’s rights? If someone is dangerous, and has shown patterns of violence, surely something could have been or should be done to keep an eye on them.
“Just look at Declan’s previous convictions, he was done for manslaughter, the system presumes that he is going to be rehabilitated but where is the plan B, if he isn’t rehabilitated – he is just let out onto the streets again to wait for him to do something again.”
He said that there was a case in Manchester where a criminal was convicted for three separate cases of manslaughter: “How is this allowed to happen? Why aren’t these people being watched?”
He put his concerns to Warwickshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Seccombe and Detective Superintendent Adrian McGee, head of the Major Investigations Unit at Warwickshire Police Force, who led the investigation into Morgan’s murder.
“It was difficult for me to do, but this is what I have been wanting to do for 12 months, to try and get the answers we did not get in court,” he said.
“All we got in court was role play, they (Declan Gray, Karlton Gray and Simon Rowbotham) just threw their cards in and took the sentence, none of them took to the stand.
“The police sympathised with me and said that we had been let down by the system, but I want them to look into the system and see if anything can be done to stop this from happening again.”
The commissioner was contacted and Mr Seccombe agreed that he would organise a meeting with all of the agencies to look into the situation.
“I met last week with Mr Hehir to discuss his concerns around the circumstances which led up to Morgan’s death and I have agreed to look into them further on his behalf. There are welldocumented procedures for monitoring offenders on release from prison and, while it appears all agencies followed these in the case of Declan Gray, there are questions as to whether the processes for monitoring violent offenders after they have served their full term of imprisonment are currently adequate.
“I will be convening a meeting in the coming weeks to help me to further understand what shortcomings may exist in the current arrangements and examine how they can be overcome.”
Declan Gray was sentenced to 23 years and nine months in prison after pleading guilty to murder. Declan’s brother Karlton Gray pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to six years and nine months in prison while Simon Rowbotham was sentenced to eight years in prison.