The case

As a child, I was brutally attacked in my own home. The attacker killed one member of my family using a hammer, before he turned the weapon on me, my younger brother and my best friend. All three of us were left with life changing injuries.  The killer also sexually assaulted me.  

Our attacker was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum tariff of 18 years. The judge said when sending him to prison that he was ‘dangerous’ , that he was an ‘ongoing severe risk particularly towards women’ and that he ‘would continue to pose a threat for the foreseeable future’.  The Judge noted that he had a history of sexually motivated offending and serious violence. 

Despite this, the Parole Board has decided that our attacker is to be released into the community next week.   

I believe the Parole Board’s decision is wrong.  It appears from the summary of their reasons that the Parole Board has not properly considered the sexual motivation for his crimes or the fact that he has committed numerous sexual assaults against me. I believe the licence conditions the Parole Board are proposing to impose do nothing to protect against the risk he would pose to women and children in the community.

I want to bring judicial review proceedings against the Parole Board to challenge their decision to direct the release of our attacker.

My solicitor has written a formal pre-action letter to the Parole Board asking them to withdraw their decision and provide us with all the information and documents they considered when deciding he was safe to be released.  If the Parole Board does not agree, then I may need to bring urgent judicial review proceedings to challenge the decision.  I may need to also make an urgent application to ask the Court to ‘stay’ the Parole Board’s decision so that my attacker cannot be released until this case is properly considered.

It is too late for my family to be protected from this man, but I want to ensure that no one else is made to suffer by him.

How much is being raised and why

In our pre-action letter we have asked the Parole Board to agree that they will not seek their legal costs from me if my claim does not succeed.  However, if they do not agree to this, I will need to ensure I have sufficient funds to protect me against the risk of paying their lawyers’ fees if I do not win my case. 

An initial amount of £5,000 is being raised. My lawyers have agreed to act at significantly discounted rates capped at the amount I am able to raise on CrowdJustice and after any deductions necessary to pay the Parole Board’s legal costs.