Newlove killers ‘not all that bad’

Feb 18 2008 by Vicky Anderson, Liverpool Daily Post

THE mothers of two of the killers of Warrington father Garry Newlove have defended their teenage sons as “not as bad as they are being made out to be”.

Adam Swellings, 19, Stephen Sorton, 17, and Jordan Cunliffe, 16, were all jailed for life for their part in a drink-fuelled unprovoked attack on Mr Newlove outside his Warrington home last August.

When questioned by a Sunday newspaper at her home in Crewe, Sue Swellings said she planned to launch an appeal against their convictions.

She said: “I still love Adam because he is mine and nothing will ever change that.”

Margaret Sorton, from Warrington, insisted: “All the lads are decent.

“My son is not as bad as he is being made out to be.

“My family know what he is like, my friends know what he is like and I know what he is like.

“That is good enough for me – and anyone else can think what they want. I am just trying to lead a normal life as best I can now. Everyone around here is supportive because they know what Stephen is like.

“They know all about the good things and don’t see the bad side of him.

“I do feel sympathy for Helen [Newlove] and my son does the same.

“We wish it had never happened, it’s just a thing which went tragically wrong.

“But this has destroyed my life. I haven’t got my son at home because of this.”

Mr Newlove’s widow, Helen, has said she would “fight to my dying breath” against any appeal, adding “they are pure evil”.

POLICE officers are breeding resentment among youths through heavy- handed tactics, the Children’s Commissioner for England has warned.

Professor Sir Al Aynsley-Green said teenagers have no respect for the police because they see them as “the enemy”

Talking about the death of Garry Newlove, Sir Al said: “Without talking to them, I don’t know why they did it.”