How can they tell?

[jcakey]

On the news this morning there was a story about how Colin Pitchfork - who raped and murdered two Leicestershire 15-year-old girls in the 1980s, after having sexually assaulted and threatened several other teenage girls - is due to have another parole hearing which could result in him being released from prison. The last time this happened and he was released, he had to be sent back to prison for breaching his licence conditions after approaching a lone woman.

His latest parole hearing won't be held in public due to "fresh allegations" - whatever they are. My question is - why is this man being considered for release at all? Why are so many like him - Zara Aleena's killer, for example - allowed out of prison after having spent their lives being violent towards women and girls? I think I'm correct in saying that if they're in a men's prison then they will barely be in contact with women most of the time - so how can anyone tell if these men are safe to release back into society again?

If men such as these can't get through their lives without being a danger to women and girls, then surely they should never be deemed safe for release - because more than half of society is female? And if the parole board can't actually determine whether these men are a danger to women and girls or not, because they have been incarcerated away from women for so long, then they shouldn't be releasing them. Why should the safety of women everywhere have to come second to the "rights" of these horrible, violent men?

Because they weren't locked away for a whole life term - and so how we deal with all criminals is that there is a parole board review and a decision is made. You have to have a system and everybody has to go through it, regardless of what they have done. It's just the system we have, everything is obviously a balance. It's not about the specifics of the case it's about criminal justice in this country (and every other)

YouTube has a channel that covers parole hearings in some US states. They're eye-opening at time.

He and the researcher put in a lot of background work to provide context to the cases.

https://www.youtube.com/@mandoo1396

It would be invaluable for the understanding of the various justice and offender management systems in the UK if we had livestreamed court proceedings and parole hearings.

If men like this are released there should be proper monitoring/ tagging accommodation / probation etc. but resources are stretched to breaking and there are no real safeguards to protect the public. See the recent male sent back to prison for aggressive threats to women, then released to do just the same again. Psychiatric services are also unable to manage the ones with severe mental health problems who are now getting non existent community care. The sheer numbers mean that there is a high chance of a violent man being near any number of women at any time. It is scary.

Then the balance is wrong. Pitchfork, I believe, did not receive a whole-life term because he "only" murdered two girls and almost murdered a third but she escaped. He therefore didn't kill three people, which is the legal definition for mass murder and didn't receive a whole-life term, which is crazy.

If the point of incarceration is to protect the public, punish, deter and rehabilitate, I guess I'm asking how does this work with men who have committed violent crimes against women. Does rehabilitation actually work in such cases - can you rehabilitate a man who hates women? And if not, how do you protect the public - half of whom are women?

I didn’t make the balance. But unless you think the sentence should have been a whole life term, there will always be a parole hearing.

Yes I think the sentence should have been a whole life term. He raped and murdered two teenage girls.

If men such as these can't get through their lives without being a danger to women and girls, then surely they should never be deemed safe for release - because more than half of society is female? And if the parole board can't actually determine whether these men are a danger to women and girls or not, because they have been incarcerated away from women for so long, then they shouldn't be releasing them. Why should the safety of women everywhere have to come second to the "rights" of these horrible, violent men?

I agree.

Is the problem that part of the vision the prison and parole system sees for itself is that it rehabilitates? It's not just supposed to punish. I personally believe some people are lost causes or there crimes are so heinous they should never be free.

The latter is, arguably, easier to judge. Pitchfork would, imo, fit that criteria. There's no mitigating what he did. The facts of the case are exactly that, there's no nuance, ambiguity, room for interpretation. His rehabilitation though will always be up for dispute. Lacking the capacity to see inside his head we can never know how sincere it is.

Regarding lost causes though, how can you judge that except by giving them the opportunity to do better and them failing? If they're shoplifters it may not be so serious but other crimes?

The prison service does now seem to accept some criminals cannot be rehabilitated, are too dangerous or do not deserve to ever be released, eg. in Sarah Everard's murder. I don't think this can be applied retrospectively. The best that can be hoped for is they constantly fail in parole hearings. This must be torture for the families and also, sometimes hopefully, for the perpetrator.

I'm not advocating for the return of indeterminate sentences.

There is also the problem of inadequate money and staff. Our already imperfect system is definitely floundering because of a lack of both. If Labour are considering emptying the jails to save money and because of overcrowding. I can't see the parole system coping.

Well feel free to campaign for that. For better or for worse that’s not what we do, or any other country, for a wide variety of reasons.

I didn't say it was. Like many people, I think sentences for violent crime are too short, and I am both free to campaign and to comment on this thread about it.