GYPSY PADDY BIDS TO FREE JAILED BRO
BIG Fat Gypsy Weddings star Paddy Doherty has launched a campaign to free his brother from an indefinite jail term.
Armed robber James Doherty, 39, has served more than 12 years under an imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentence imposed in 2005.
It comes as black cab rapist John Worboys, 60 – who police fear preyed on up to 200 women – is set to walk free after serving less than 10 years of his IPP. Paddy fears for James’ safety because his brother has suffered a series of “racist” attacks by traveller-bashing lags.
Paddy, 58, told the Daily Star Sunday: “It’s so stupid that James is still inside.
“He was targeted by fellow inmates because he’s a traveller. He’s had his throat cut – he’s been well chopped up.” James’s fiancée Mary believes her partner is being denied parole because he is a traveller.
She added: “That black cab driver attacked all those women, and he is being set free.
“James has committed robbery and burglary but not any sexual offences.”
He was convicted of armed robbery 13 years ago and ordered to serve a minimum of four-and-a-half years’ but ended up doing more than nine.
He was released in 2014 but was recalled to jail for violating his parole by stealing a laptop. It prompted his IPP to be reactivated.
James has spent a further three years and five months in prison. He is now in HMP Swansea.
Paddy said: “I went to see him a couple of times when he was in hospital. He was a mess.”
A Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said she could not comment on individual prisoners.
EVIL Rose West has been inundated with offers of marriage behind bars.
She receives a proposal from other prisoners or members of the public at least once a month.
The 64-year-old, who was convicted of 10 murders, has received wedding offers from men as young as 21.
West, whose husband Fred committed suicide while awaiting trial for the same killings, has also received proposals from murderers in a neighbouring jail.
Her first marriage offer came in 2003 when Dave Glover, a bass player for 70s band Slade, proposed after writing to her for several months.
But the marriage plans collapsed when West said she wanted to give Glover “his life back”.
One source said: “A lot of people write to her from all over the world and she will often respond.
“Then a friendship strikes up. Before you know it, some tragic case somewhere is saying they want to marry her. “More often than not she will explain it might be a little bit difficult given that she is facing the rest of her life in prison.”
Jail sources have revealed that West’s weight has ballooned to more than 18st.
She spent weeks pigging out on mince pies, cakes and sweets over Christmas.
Doctors at Low Newton Prison, Co Durham, have warned her she is at risk of developing type 2 diabetes. It is understood West is now on a strict diet.
Part of West’s problem is that she has direct access to a kitchen on the jail’s F-Wing, which she shares with other female lifers.
A prison source added: “She’s a very good cook and cakes are her thing. Although she shared them around she ate a lot herself.
“She has become so big that most of her clothes no longer fit and she is often short of breath.”
West maintains that she knew nothing of the “depraved” murders which took place at 25 Cromwell Street, Gloucester.
Lodgers, babysitters, children and strangers the Wests picked up off the street were tortured and abused before being buried in the cellar or under the patio of their home.
The victims at the “House of Horrors” included the couple’s eldest daughter Heather, who was killed in June 1987, aged 16.