Call this justice for my lost daughter?
THREE thugs battered Garry Newlove to death outside his own house in front of his family in 2007. Now his family are shocked that one of his killers is set to be released on parole (Mail). This mirrors my family’s story. My 22-year-old daughter Lorraine was attacked and murdered on her way home from her office Christmas party in 1988. It happened just 11 months after her killer had been set free, against all medical advice, following just three years in a young offenders’ institution for a sexual attack on a young mother he had beaten over the head with an iron. Six weeks after my daughter’s murder, he was arrested for attempted rape after breaking into a young woman’s house. When he was sentenced, I was informed that the wording of the judge’s summing-up meant that this apology for mankind would never be released. The judge said he wanted him to be detained until he was no longer a danger to women, which in his opinion would be a very long time indeed. However, I was later told the judge could not pass such a severe sentence and that criminals must have hope. My daughter’s killer has been released. The only people with a life sentence are her loved ones. There is a total lack of understanding from those who make and implement the law but still allow spineless sentences to be passed. What happened to the promise that with the abolition of the death penalty, life would mean life?
MICHAEL BENSON, London SE25. IT IS upsetting that criminals are being let off simply by saying sorry, and that a victim of assault was told by police to chat to the attacker (Mail). I was attacked by an intruder inside my home and left battered and bruised. I am still having counselling two-and-a-half years later. South Wales Police saw fit to give my assailant a caution. I have frequent nightmares and can’t face returning to the property alone. I double-lock the front and back doors and constantly check them. I feel badly let down by the police. Those who attack others need to be brought in front of a judge.
ROGER BENNETT, Penrhyncoch, Ceredigion.