HOPE VICTIMS WILL SIT IN ON PAROLE CASES
Board opens doors at last
Victims’ needs will be at the heart of these plans
PAROLE BOARD ON OPENING HEARINGS
THE victims of John Worboys, Jon Venables and Colin Pitchfork could sit in on their parole cases as the previously closeddoor hearings are opened up.
A review was held in the wake of the Worboys scandal in 2018, when it emerged just one of the black cab rapist’s victims had been warned when he was cleared for release.
The prison hearings are now being opened to victims via video link, though they are currently only allowed to read a statement about the impact of an offender’s crime.
But after a summer pilot scheme, victims are expected to be given access to hearings in the autumn.
The Parole Board said: “We welcome the moves to allow greater access for victims. It’s vital there are clear rights and proper support for victims when they choose to be involved in the process. Their needs will be at the heart of these plans.”
There was fury in 2018 when the Board decided Worboys, now 63, was eligible less than 10 years into his indeterminate term for plying over 100 women with booze and drugs and committing rape and indecent assault.
The High Court blocked the move and he got a further six-year minimum in 2019 after fresh claims were made and he admitted attacking four women. Pitchfork, 62, was released on licence last year after serving 33 years for raping and killing two girls of 15.
Two months later he was returned to jail after approaching young women in the street. He is due for a parole hearing this year. James Bulger killer Venables, 39, is also due a parole bid this year on his second term over child abuse images. James’s mum Denise Fergus backs calls for Venables to lose the anonymity given on his release after eight years for the 1993 murder.