§ Mr. Gerrard Neale (Cornwall, North)I beg to ask leave to move the Adjournment of the House, under Standing Order No.10, for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter that should have urgent consideration, namely,
the proposed release from prison on parole of Nigel Duncan Williams.I believe that we should consider the basis upon which violent criminals are released from prison on remitted sentences and especially on parole. In particular, I ask that we be allowed to debate the interests of the victims families, who are affected by released prisoners returning to the local area.In April, four years ago, Nigel Duncan Williams of Whitestone crescent, Bodmin, stood charged, with murder. He was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 12 years in prison. He had lain in wait for and had brutally assaulted, Caroline Cooper of my constituency, who died from her injuries. He then dragged her into the churchyard. Four years ago this month, on appeal, his sentence was reduced to eight years. Next Tuesday Nigel Williams is to be released on parole, to return to Bodmin and live round the corner from the victim's family, close to the very place where the crime took place.
This state of affairs is horrific for the locality and in particular for the Cooper family, who have another daughter now aged 15.
The issue is not restricted to one family and one convicted criminal. In the statement made by the Home Secretary in 1983 about the conditions upon which parole was to be given to violent criminals, and in the subsequent report ordered to be published by this House on 3 June this year, many points are made about the close consideration to be given to the parole of violent prisoners. However, there is no reference in either the statement or the report to the interests of the victim's families.
I ask that urgent consideration be given to this issue by the House. In the case to which I have referred, some four years and two months after his conviction, a violent criminal is to return to the very locality of his crime and the neighbourhood of the affected family.
§ Mr. SpeakerThe hon. Member for Cornwall, North (Mr. Neale) asks leave to move the Adjournment of the House for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter that he thinks should have urgent consideration, namely,
the proposed release from prison on parole of Nigel Duncan Williams.I have listened with care to what the hon. Gentleman has said, but I regret that I do not consider that the matter he has raised is appropriate for discussion under Standing Order No. 10, and I cannot therefore submit his application to the House.I will now take the points of order.