Family of murder victim ‘betrayed’

Jun 18 2008 by Rob Merrick, Liverpool Daily Post

Garry Newlove (158)

WEAK plans to change the bail laws betrayed the family of Warrington father-of-three Garry Newlove, who was kicked to death by a gang of youths, it was claimed yesterday.

The Tories attacked the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) proposals for focusing solely on whether murder suspects should be allowed back on the streets in some cases.

That would do nothing to tackle the problem of bail being granted to repeat offenders, including those accused of violent offences that made them a potential danger to the public, they said.

The row follows the uproar when it was revealed that a teenager who led the brutal attack on Mr Newlove last August had been released on bail just hours before.

The 47-year-old sales manager received head injuries after confronting teenagers outside his home, and died in hospital two days later.

Mr Newlove‘s heartbroken widow Helen said she was “absolutely disgusted” to learn that 19-year-old Adam Swellings had been released from custody for an assault just hours before the attack.

Yesterday, the MoJ came under fire after stepping back from a total ban on bail in all murder cases, because it might contravene the European Convention on Human Rights.

But the Conservatives’ criticism went further, hinting they would soon pledge a tightening of the bail system for a range of criminal offences, not just murder and manslaughter.

Nick Herbert, the party’s justice spokesman, said: “The government has belatedly come forward with narrow and weak proposals which only look at bail for murder suspects and which may result in no change in the law at all.

“There are wider issues of bail enforcement, including the granting of bail for repeat offenders in cases like the murder of Garry Newlove, which the Government’s consultation fails to address.

“Ministers have failed to recognise the depth of public concern and the extent of the problem. Suspects with a history of offending must be assumed to be at risk of offending again.”

The death of Mr Newlove, who had earlier survived stomach cancer, sparked a national debate about the availability of alcohol and about youths hanging around drinking on street corners.

It followed years of strife at the hands of youths who would gather at a subway yards from the Newloves’ semi-detached home in Station Road North, Fearnhead, drinking alcohol and vandalising property.

Yesterday’s consultation said a bail ban could be “unjust” in cases of murder suspects in “mercy-killing” cases, or that of someone who had shot a burglar in their home.

Courts are instead expected to give greater weight to the potential consequences of a murder suspect going on to commit a further crime.