Articles & News

March 26, 2008

Victim reacts to day-release program in UK

A widower, whose wife was killed by a drug-crazed driver, is disgusted after learning her killer is set to be moved to another prison so he can spend days out with his mum.

Gordon Legg, 53, of Shipley, has condemned the criminal justice system after he says he was told that David Whitnall is set to be moved from a West Yorkshire jail to one nearer his home in Manchester.

Whitnall is serving a six-year sentence - upheld by the Court of Appeal - for admitting responsibility for the death of Mr Legg's wife, Susan, 48.

He was driving a high-powered Subaru Impreza car, which smashed into the back of the couple's Fiat car on the M62, instantly killing Mrs Legg.

Whitnall was jailed after admitting driving at speeds of more than 120mph while using his knees to steer, because he had been paranoid and delusional believing he was being chased by a one-eyed crow. The probation service has now revealed, in a phone call to Mr Legg, that Whitnall is set to be moved and he will be allowed temporary leave to visit his family.

Meanwhile, the daily heartache continues for the Legg family which has been torn apart by the loss of a woman who "was everything" to them.

Mr Legg, who also suffered horrific injuries in the crash, said: "I was disgusted when I got the phone call. It makes us all worse knowing that he will be allowed out. I am so disappointed, not just for me but for the whole family who are in the same situation.

"The probation service told me that they were moving him from this area, closer to his home in Manchester so he could have days out with his mum.

"We are going to suffer this forever but he will be able to go home and forget about it."

He added: "He was given six years and that should mean six years in prison."

Father-of-three Mr Legg had been driving on the motorway near Ferrybridge with his wife on their way to a caravan holiday when the crash happened in August 2005.

When the police arrested Whitnall, they found him in a psychotic state, believed to have been induced by smoking cannabis since he was young.

He had a bag of super-strength "skunk" cannabis hidden down his jeans.

Whitnall was jailed by a judge at Leeds Crown Court and was sentenced in February 2006.

He later appealed against the sentence but three High Court Judges dismissed his appeal, ruling the original six-year sentence was "fully justified".

Following the crash, Mr Legg faced a fight for his own life, spending four weeks in the intensive care unit of Pinderfields Hospital, Wakefield, with fractures to his back, shoulders and ribs. He is still on a cocktail of strong painkillers, has been seeing a psychiatrist for his trauma and has been laid off from his former job as a production worker.

"Nothing has been the same since my wife died," he said. "She was everything to us. She looked after my mother who has now had to go into a care home because I'm not strong enough to look after her.

"My young grandson has had to be brought home from school twice when they have been talking about grandparents. He just starts crying because the family was very close.

"We are just trying to pull together. I have my children and grandchildren around me and they are all that is keeping me sane."

Shipley MP Philip Davies described the prison regime as "far too relaxed."

He said: "I personally do not understand or support the whole concept of open prisons. Having a prison that someone can walk out of seems to completely defeat the object of jail."

He added: "It is galling enough when somebody who kills seems to get a light sentence in the first place, but when they get to serve out their sentence in a prison they are allowed to leave, there is no wonder Mr Legg should be so upset."

West Yorkshire Probation Service said: "The role of the probation service in these cases is to keep families of victims informed about what is happening with the prison service. If we have phoned him, we are the messenger but the decision will have been made by the prison service."

A Prison Service spokesman said that it would not comment on individual cases.

However, she said: "Public protection is our top priority and the rehabilitation of offenders is a vital part of this process. All prisoners are rigorously risk-assessed before release on temporary licence and no prisoners are released if there are concerns for public safety.

"Temporary release on licence enables prisoners to rebuild and maintain important family ties by allowing suitable prisoners to spend time with their families at home. Such releases directly contribute to the offender's eventual resettlement into the community and to the development of a purposeful, law-abiding life.

"Only prisoners who meet the eligibility criteria set out in the relevant Prison Service Order and who pass a rigorous risk assessment will be granted temporary release."