If our mum’s killer is set free we fear no woman will be safe
THREE siblings whose mother was murdered by a convicted rapist were horrified to learn the fiend could soon be released from prison.
When Victor Farrant was jailed for life in 1998 for the murder of Glenda Hoskins and the attempted murder of another woman, Mr Justice Butterfield told him: “This murder was so terrible and you are so dangerous that in your case the sentence of life imprisonment means just that. “You will never be released.”
But 26 years on, Glenda’s children David, Katie and Iain – who were 13, 15 and 21 when she was killed – have been devastated by news from a victim liaison officer that Farrant could be released on compassionate grounds because he has terminal cancer.
They have heard a meeting to discuss his release, so he could be cared for outside jail, is due on April 10.
The furious family are now calling for a change in the law to prevent the early release of prisoners on compassionate grounds if a judge has declared that they should never leave prison.
Iain, 47, a Liverpool restaurateur, said: “When Farrant was jailed he was deemed so dangerous he was talked about in the same way as Rose West, Peter Sutcliffe and Myra Hindley.
“The sentencing judge said he would never be released.
RIGHTS
“But now we are told he has terminal cancer and could be released within weeks. No one has told us where he will go or how ill he is. Does he have weeks to live and will go straight to a hospice?
“Or is he still well enough to walk the streets? After all, he has nothing to lose – if he is fit enough he could think, ‘One more rape or one more kill’.
“We have been given just a couple of weeks’ notice. That isn’t enough time to process the news, let alone campaign for him to be kept behind bars. It’s like the authorities are putting his rights above ours.
“He is potentially being released into the outside world after all these years, outside the conditions of parole where psychological evaluations happen.
“None of that is happening – they are just saying he has terminal cancer, the prison want to get rid of him.
“We hear all the time about pressures in the prison service. They haven’t got enough space. People are being released very early. Dangerous criminals are being released back into society without any proper scrutiny. If they said to us he is going straight to a hospice, that would be something. But we haven’t been given any detail at all.”
Katie, who now lives in Australia, added: “Coming home from school, we’d usually find our lovely mum waiting for us for dinner and to talk about our day. Instead, we found her raped and murdered in her own home.”
And of Farrant’s possible release, she said: “We fear for our own safety and that of others. Twenty-six years in a high-security men’s prison, mixing in an atrocious echo chamber of womenhaters, child sex offenders and serial killers will have only served to fuel his sick desires. I don’t want our story to repeat for somebody else, which I believe is a real danger if he is released.”
Labourer Farrant, from Portsmouth, Hants, drowned accountant Glenda, his ex-girlfriend, in the bath in February 1996. He then rolled the 45-year-old’s body in a piece of carpet and hid it in the attic – where Katie found her – before fleeing in her car.
The killer even stopped to sell Glenda’s things on his way to the south coast, then fled to Europe. He became Britain’s most notorious fugitive, with Interpol scouring the Continent.
In 1988, he had been jailed for 12 years for raping a woman and causing her grievous bodily harm, as well as
I do believe in rehabilitation but surely in this case life should mean life?
attacking another woman with a bread knife. He served six years of that sentence and met Glenda while on day release in 1993.
Then, on December 27, 1995, a month after his early release, Farrant visited former Downing Street secretary turned sex worker Ann Fidler. He attacked her with bottles and an iron, leaving her with partial brain damage and no memory of the ordeal.
But he left DNA evidence
– which the Hoskins family believe should have led to his arrest. Katie said: “If he had been adequately supervised and had his fingerprints and DNA on every police database, then our mother would still be alive.” Instead, Farrant picked up his relationship with Glenda, who was separated from husband Tony, telling her he was an airline pilot. After she ended it, he stalked her. Katie said: “Our family has been massively let down by the prison system and the Home Office before.” She said the prison system should have listened to the fiend’s parole officer, Judith Hartsilver, who tried to stop early release.
Katie added: “Judith said he could get anything he wanted, even within the prison system.”
She said the parole officer told how Farrant used charm to cover his hateful personality, which made him the most dangerous type of offender.
Farrant featured on Crimewatch and a British tourist recognised him working in a hostel in Nice, France, leading to his arrest.
Extradited in January 1997, he was found guilty at Winchester crown court of the murder of Glenda and the attempted murder of Mrs Fidler. He got life for Glenda’s murder, which the judge called a “ruthless and evil act”, and a further 18 years for the attempted murder of Mrs Fidler.
Glenda’s family have now written to Justice Secretary Alex Chalk and Home Secretary James Cleverly to plead for Farrant to be kept in prison.
Iain said: “I do believe in rehabilitation but surely in this case life should mean life? If he is released we will be for ever looking over our shoulders.
“We have written to the MPs but it is Easter and they are in recess. We want them to delay decision-making so we have more time to lobby. We feel railroaded and powerless.”
Katie added: “I’m a pretty compassionate person. But why show compassion for someone evil? People whose crimes had them sentenced to life have no business to get the same privilege or dignity as those in regular society.”
The Ministry of Justice said: “Glenda Hoskins’ murder was a horrific crime and our thoughts remain with her family and friends.
“Prisoners are only released on compassionate grounds in exceptional circumstances following strict risk assessments and no formal application has yet been made in this case.”
Mr Cleverly and Mr Chalk were contacted for comment.
IAIN ON SHOCK AT HEARING KILLER MIGHT BE RELEASED