Campaigners believe Labour is more concerned with jail overcrowding “than standing with those left behind”.
Labour’s sentencing plans have sparked uproar (Image: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publis)
Releasing killers, rapists and child abusers early from prison has left the families of victims feeling “betrayed, silenced and forgotten,” ministers have been warned.
Campaigners believe Labour is more concerned with jail overcrowding “than standing with those left behind”
The Ministry of Justice is ramming through the softest sentencing reforms in a generation, despite repeated pleas from relatives to strengthen laws to protect victims.
Speaking of their own painful fights for justice, four families have told the Daily Express how releasing killers, violent sex offenders and child abusers – like those who have changed their lives forever – will reopen their trauma, put more people at risk and hammer confidence in the justice system.
Glenn and Becky Youens, whose daughter Violet-Grace, 4, was hit by a stolen car being driven 83mph in a 30mph area, told this newspaper: “The moment they told us she was gone, our lives stopped.
“Everything since has been about trying to make sure no other family goes through what we have.
“That is why we fought for Violet’s Law, to make sure people who kill through dangerous driving face proper punishment.
“The man who killed our daughter took everything from us.
“The sentence he got could never make up for what we lost, even if he had received a longer sentence.
“Now, under Labour’s new plans, people like him could be released even earlier. How can that be right?
“How can any government look parents in the eye and say the person who killed their child deserves to walk free sooner?
“These reforms insult everything we fought for.”
The driver, Aidan McAteer, who was 23 at the time, was jailed for nine years and four months for causing death and serious injury by dangerous driving.
Katie Brett, whose teenage sister Sasha Marsden was stabbed over 100 times by David Minto, said: “The punishment never came close to matching the horror of what he did. It already felt far too short.
“I cannot describe the pain and anger it brings that the Labour Government wants to shorten sentences and release offenders early.
“We are told these reforms are about prison overcrowding or rehabilitation, as if statistics and policy matter more than human lives.
“But this is not about numbers, it is about people. It is about families who will never see their loved ones again.
“It is about the mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers who have to carry the grief while offenders get another chance at life.
“Sasha never got a second chance. Why should he? Why should any killer? These reforms do not bring fairness or compassion.
Families have blasted the sentencing proposals (Image: Justice for Victims campaign)
“They bring devastation all over again. If this government truly believes in justice, it should start by remembering who the victims are. Because right now, it feels like we have been forgotten.”
Under Labour’s plans to reduce the pressure on prison capacity, killers and rapists will be let out early, while 43,000 criminals will avoid jail altogether.
Most convicts will be tagged and electronically monitored as ministers try to avoid a repeat of the overcrowding crisis.
At one point last Autumn, justice chiefs feared a total breakdown in law and order with police unable to arrest criminals because there would be nowhere to take them.
Fewer than 100 cells were unoccupied, it is understood.
The majority of criminals will be let out after just a third of their sentence.
They will spend another third under house arrest and will only then be put on licence and let into the community.
Criminals sentenced to more than four years behind bars will be let out after serving just half of their jail term, while punishments of less than 12 months will be abolished in most cases.
Only the most extreme offenders will be refused the right to leave prison at the halfway point
Criminals will, for the first time, be tagged before they leave prison in a bid to prevent them wreaking havoc in communities.
Paula Hudgell, whose adopted son, Tony, was assaulted by his birth parents, an attack which caused multiple fractures and dislocations, and blunt trauma to the face, leading to organ failure, toxic shock and sepsis, also condemned plans to release offenders earlier.
She said: “The abuse he suffered left him fighting for his life, and the scars will never fade.
“That is why I fought for Tony’s Law, to make sure those who harm children face tougher sentences so justice could finally mean something for victims like him. But now, Labour’s new sentencing plans threaten to undo it all.
“They are talking about letting prisoners out early, even those who committed violent crimes. How can that ever be right?
“This is not just about politics.
“It is about protecting children.
“It is about making sure that people who torture, abuse, and destroy young lives pay the full price for what they have done.
“By opening the prison gates early, this government is sending a message that child cruelty is not as serious as it used to be.”
Ayse Hussein, whose cousin Mihrican “Jan” Mustafa, was murdered by convicted paedophile Zahid Younis, said Labour’s proposals will make the agony worse for families.
She said: “What they call a life sentence is really just a minimum term. After that, the person who took Jan’s life will one day walk free, while we live with our loss forever.
“How is that justice? How can anyone talk about rehabilitation and compassion when the families left behind get none?
“Every year that passes, we carry the pain, and every reform that softens punishment deepens it.
“Jan’s murderer was previously convinced of other violent sexual offences. Yet this government wants to let violent sex offenders out earlier, giving them more opportunities to do more harm.
“If this government truly believes in justice, then it should stop letting violent offenders walk free before their time. Jan deserves better. Every victim does.”
Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy is desperately trying to restore confidence in the criminal justice system after 91 prisoners were released by mistake since April.
And one of the prisoners wrongly released committed another offence whilst on the run, it has emerged.
The convict, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was let out of custody last Monday – and has since been charged with stalking a woman on the same day.
He faces a Crown Court trial next year for offences including coercive control, intentional strangulation, and common assault.
