Garry Newlove killers are granted appeal

May 23 2008 Liverpool Daily Post

TWO youths convicted of the alcohol-fuelled murder of Warrington father Garry Newlove have been granted leave to appeal, the Crown Prosecution Service said.

Adam Swellings, 19, who was the ringleader of the gang which kicked the father-of-three to death, will appeal against both his conviction and his minimum 17-year jail term.

Fellow gang member Stephen Sorton, 17, has been granted permission to appeal against his minimum 15-year term.

Mr Newlove, 47, a salesman with a plastics company, was killed outside his home in Station Road North, Warrington, last August after he confronted a gang about vandalism.

He was kicked “like a football” by the youths, the murder trial at Chester Crown Court heard.

It emerged after the pair, and 16-year-old Jordan Cunliffe, were found guilty in January that Swellings had been released from custody for an assault just hours before the attack on August 10.

He was freed on bail on condition he stayed away from Warrington but he remained in the town despite the court order.

Mr Newlove’s widow, Helen, launched a campaign for more to be done to stop youth gangs going on violent, drink-fuelled rampages against law-abiding people.

Swellings, of Meredith Street, Crewe, Sorton, of Honister Avenue, Warrington, and Cunliffe, formerly of Warrington, were found guilty after the jury deliberated for more than 55 hours.

A 15-year-old and a 17-year-old were cleared of murder and manslaughter following the six-week trial.

The court was told Mr Newlove was attacked when he went to speak to the gang who had been vandalising his wife’s car.

The court heard that Mrs Newlove, 44, a legal secretary, and the couple’s daughters held a vigil at his bedside in Warrington Hospital, but Mr Newlove had suffered a massive brain haemorrhage and died two days later.

During the trial Swellings admitted throwing the first punch at Mr Newlove and originally pleaded guilty to manslaughter but that plea was rejected.

Cunliffe, who bragged about the attack to his friends, was jailed for a minimum of 12 years.