Dad’s fight for his son’s freedom 13 years on
MAN LEFT TO ‘ROT’ IN JAIL WITH INDEFINITE SENTENCE
WORRIED dad Maurice Stevens fears for his son’s life as he battles for freedom.
Left to “rot” in jail, Danny Weatherson has been fighting for his release for more than 13 years.
It comes after he was caught up in the controversial Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences, which came into force for England and Wales in 2005 but was axed in 2012.
But “trapped” Danny hopes there will be light at the end of his dark tunnel after being given a parole hearing date in May.
And dad Maurice says it is long overdue as Danny slashed his own throat and needed medical treatment as the pressure mounts for his release.
“He’s got his parole date in May but this is his 13th year in prison for crimes that weren’t worth that length of a prison sentence. His family are frightened that he will take his own life,” said Maurice, 47, of Lemington, Newcastle.
“He’s already attempted suicide in 2016 and then again around Christmas. He’s been left to rot in jail, he’s become institutionalised and will have to be rehabilitated to get used to life back on the outside.”
Danny was just 18 when a judge recommended he served almost 16 months for two attempted robberies before he could apply for parole – but it took 11 years and nine months for him to be released – only to be flung back inside.
He got out on July 3, 2017, and was told to spend three months in a hostel in Leeds before being allowed to return to home soil in Newcastle.
Frustrated by not being with his family, without benefits and miles away from home, his dad says it is understood Danny was knocked over but would not co-operate with police. Only weeks later, on his 29th birthday on July 18, he was recalled to prison.
Since then Danny has been waiting for his parole board hearing date and has finally been told it will happen in May. But Maurice fears for his son’s mental state.
“He’s now in HMP Northumberland so we hope, if he is released, that he will be put in a hostel in Newcastle near his family.
“At least we can give him the support he needs and hopefully we can help him rehabilitate.
“He feels everyone is against him but he has got our support.
“I really worry about his mental state right now as his parole board meeting draws near.”
After Danny, of Scotswood, Newcastle, was thrown back in jail in 2017 Maurice asked strangers to send cards of support to his son.
Caring Chronicle readers sent him dozens of cards which gave him the mental strength to get through.
Dad-of-12 Maurice added: “We were so grateful to everyone who sent him cards of support back then. They really helped him pull through. But he’s really slipped back and has turned to self-harming again.”
Builder Maurice said: “He has been in prison for over 13 years for two attempted robberies of a coat and a mobile phone.
“The courts were handing these PPI sentences out like confetti at the time and weren’t thinking of the consequences.”
In 2017, the Chronicle told how the Parole Board said Danny could be moved to a category D open prison. However, just weeks later, he was told the prison that had been chosen was changed and Danny tried to kill himself as his hopes were shattered.
His solicitor, Shirley Noble, said he was being kept inside as he “poses a risk to himself” and uses the self-harming mechanism to release the pain he suffers emotionally.
And his dad used his son’s attempted suicide to highlighted the IPP sentences, intended to protect the public against criminals whose crimes were not serious enough to merit a normal life sentence, but who were regarded as too dangerous to be released when the term of their original sentence had expired.
Ministry of Justice data shows there were 2,598 IPP prisoners still behind bars as at September 30, 2018, a decrease of 57% since the 2012 peak of 6,080.
And 129 were released during June to September. The authorities admit the IPP sentence was widely criticised and “used far more widely than intended”.
Former Justice Secretary Elizabeth Truss said on IPP sentencing: “Of course, public protection must be the number one priority.
“But it seems unjust that someone sentenced in 2010 can remain in prison for years when – if sentenced today – they might have an automatic release date.
“That’s why it’s important we tackle the backlog of these cases that are waiting for a Parole Board hearing. We are making progress.”