Block hammer killer’s prison release, says Patel

Former Cabinet ministers Priti Patel and Robert Buckland are urging the Government to block the release of a wife killer by using legislation they pushed through Parliament.

Ms Patel, the former home secretary, and Mr Buckland, the former justice secretary, are calling on ministers to refer the case of Robert Brown to the parole board using provisions in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act of 2022.

Brown bludgeoned estranged wife Joanna Simpson, 46, to death with a claw hammer and buried her body in a pre-dug grave.he was jailed in May 2011 and is due for release in November after serving half his sentence.