The dangerous criminals trying to get early release
THEIR crimes were so horrific judges thought only a long time behind bars would do.
But these North East criminals tried to get out of jail early...and failed.
Killers, danger drivers and nightspot attackers are among those who have recently appealed against the sentences handed to them by crown court judges, claiming that they are too severe.
Yet when the cases came before the Court of Appeal, top justices disagreed and dismissed their attempts to get their jail terms slashed.
Now, the loved ones of murder victims have told how every attempt to shorten a sentence piles more misery on those already suffering the consequences of the criminals’ actions.
Jordan Jobson was jailed for life with a minimum of 15 years for murdering Samantha Madgin in 2007.
But after two separate appeals the minimum term was reduced to 11.
Her mum Alison Madgin, 53, said: “The sentences are never long enough from the beginning, but then when they put an appeal in it’s like you have a knife in you and they are twisting it again. There’s no thought of victims whatsoever. It’s an insult.”
David Hines has spent the last 25 years campaigning on behalf of the families of murder and manslaughter victims, after founding the National Victims’ Association, following his daughter Marie’s murder in 1993.
He said the appeals process gives criminals a voice, while their victims’ loved ones suffer in silence.
“It just breaks up a family when you hear someone is appealing,” said David. It just makes the family feel sick to their stomach. There’s a pain in your stomach that no doctor can diagnose. It’s a physical pain, but then the people that make these rules, like the Government, still seem to care about the perpetrators.
“There are thousands of people out there that feel the same as I do and they haven’t got a voice.”
Former soldier Trimaan Dhillon was locked up for life with a minimum term of 22 years after he was found guilty of murdering Alice Ruggles at her Gateshead home after she ended their brief relationship.
Northumbria University graduate Alice, 24, was found dead in her flat in Rawling Road, Bensham, on October 12 2016. Her throat had been cut.
Dhillon, then 26, denied murder at Newcastle Crown Court, saying Alice had fallen on a carving knife during an argument.
But after hearing how the Lance Corporal became obsessed with Alice and stalked her when he realised she was moving on after their intense relationship ended, the jury found him guilty of murder.
A year after the murder Dhillon applied for leave to appeal his sentence. However, in July 2018 it was confirmed his bid had been unsuccessful.
Alice’s mum, Sue Hills, branded the killer “arrogant” for attempting to get out of his punishment.
She said: “I have never met anybody who can be that arrogant. It’s like he thinks he’s the victim.
“He’s not accepted what he’s done wrong and in some ways he’s making it worse for himself.”
Killer Ryan Saint attempted to get out of jail early by telling judges he thinks of his victim every night.
The 24-year-old thug was locked up for life after he was found guilty of murdering dad-of-two Andrew Smart by stamping him to death at his North Shields home, along with his pal Ryan Leck.
A judge at Newcastle Crown Court ordered that Saint serve a minimum of 22 years behind bars before he could