System has failed grieving family

SICK thug James Wright took away a dad’s life and destroyed many more.

This repeat offender stabbed Craig McClelland to death.

Craig’s three sons and their mum are left wondering how this tragedy could have happened.

What’s left behind is heartbreaking. A three-year-old who tried to build a model of his daddy out of Lego, the cry of a baby with no dad to console him.

As if this senseless murder was not awful enough, it was committed while Wright was illegally at large.

The killer breached an earlier curfew while on an electronic tag – and six months passed without anything being done about it.

It’s not just Craig’s family left asking “why?” Even the judge couldn’t fathom how Wright was allowed to roam free.

This is a man with 16 previous convictions – two for knife crimes. Craig was an innocent young dad. The difference between the two men couldn’t be more stark.

But it’s Craig who’s gone, while Wright will just languish in jail for at least 20 years.

Too many people have been left asking how this could happen.

The prison service, officials and Government should not be allowed to treat those questions as cries in the dark.

There must be consequences for the offender – and the system that left him free to kill.