THE family of a murdered teenager are to meet Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf today to discuss their campaign to strengthen the rights of victims of crime.
One of the main aims of the campaign is the introduction of a explicit requirement for the safety and welfare of victims and their families to be taken into account when parole and early release are considered.
Michelle Stewart was 17 when she was stabbed to death in the street in her home village of Drongan, Ayrshire, by her former boyfriend John Wilson in 2008.
Her family launched their “Michelle’s Law” campaign after learning Wilson could get out of jail before his minimum sentence is up.
They received a letter from the Scottish Prisons Service indicating he has been approved for first grant of temporary release, despite the judge who jailed him in 2009 making clear he should serve 12 years before he could apply for parole.
The family say they have had little input into the release process, and have been unable to restrict his relocation to exclude their local area. A petition calling for a halt to Wilson’s relocation to Ayr on his release has 4500 signatures.
In addition to more input from victims in parole and early release decisions, he family also want to see increased use of powers to impose “exclusion zones” on offenders, and improvements to the Victim Notification Scheme (VNS) so victims and their families are given reasons for an offender’s release, and can make representations in person.
The family will discuss their demands with Yousaf at a meeting in Ayr. Michelle’s sister, Lisa Stewart, said: “My sister was taken from us when she was only 17 years old, in a savage, premeditated attack.
“The original sentence was not nearly long enough and now we face, just nine years on, the prospect of seeing my sister’s killer on the street, on the bus or in the shops. It is unbelievably painful.
“Other families have contacted me, telling me of their terror at facing their loved one’s attacker and that there’s nothing they can do to stop it. That isn’t right, and that’s why we are launching this campaign. We are victims too, and our voices must be heard.”
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