Articles & News

March 25, 2008

UK - one fifth of murder suspects 'committed crime while on bail'

Richard Edwards, Crime Correspondent, London Telegraph

Almost one in five murder suspects in Britain last year were alleged to have committed the offence while on bail, it has emerged.
# Gary Weddell's 'plan to kill more of his family'

Police leaders said the figures proved a “systemic failure” in the judicial and sentencing process was undermining efforts to keep the streets safe.
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Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by a newspaper showed that out of 462 murder cases last year, 79 of the accused suspects had been let out on remand over other crimes.

They follow a string of high-profile murders carried out by killers who had been freed from custody.

Nick Herbert, the Shadow Justice Secretary, added: “These shocking figures underline the need for tighter bail laws. Public safety must come first.”

In one county, Avon and Somerset, just under half of all those charged with murder in 2007 were on remand for other offences.

Three suspects were on police bail, three on court bail and two on both court and police bail.

The statistics came from 34 forces in England, Scotland and Wales and did not include, amongst others, figures from the Metropolitan police, where the most murders took place last year.

One victim was Garry Newlove, 47, who was kicked to death outside his home in Cheshire last summer by killer Adam Swellings, who had been freed from custody earlier that day.

Last week an inquest heard that former Met police officer Garry Weddell shot dead his mother in law, Traute Maxfield, in Hertfordshire, and then committed suicide while waiting to be tried for the murder of his wife Sandra.

There was a further outcry when the coroner’s court heard that Weddell had possibly planned to kill more family members.

In January, when details of his case first emerged, Gordon Brown promised a review, saying: “If any changes in the law are necessary, we will make them.”

However last month it was revealed that 60 murder suspects were still walking the streets after being granted bail by the courts.

In manslaughter cases the figures are even more stark with 35 suspects out on bail - 85 per cent of those charged. Only six are in custody.

Courts are increasingly encouraged to use bail to ease the jail crisis which has led to the Government officially running out of cells for the first time.

Last month the “usable operation capacity” - the normal limit for inmate numbers - was exceeded by almost 100.

There are 2,000 overflow places, but many of these are in remote locations or otherwise unsuitable.

The latest Ministry of Justice figures show there are 81,914 inmates, 49 of which were having to be kept in police cells under the emergency Operation Safeguard scheme.

Police Federation vice chairman Alan Gordon said: “There are systemic failures in the judicial and sentencing process that need to be urgently addressed.

“The government must not allow a lack of prison spaces to dictate safety on the streets.”

A spokesman said bail was an independent judicial decision based on each case, and subject to conditions including curfews, financial sureties and the surrender of travel documents.

Some 64,800 suspected violent attackers were allowed bail in 2006.

Of these, almost one in ten - around 5,500 - did not return to court to face their charges.

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