Murdered Ayrshire Teenager's Family Await Parole Hearing
The sister of a murdered Ayrshire girl is calling for a meeting with the justice secretary as the killer awaits a decision on parole.
The new date for a parole hearing has been set for the man who murdered an Ayrshire teenager in 2008.
Michelle Stewart was brutally attacked and killed by John Wilson in Drongan when she was only 17 years old.
Wilson has been locked up since 2009 but is now set to have his fifth parole hearing on Wednesday 25th September.
The victim’s family have set up a family campaign group, Michelle’s Law following her death to help protect families of victims when decisions on parole and early release are discussed.
Michelle’s sister, Lisa is at the heart of the campaign group and is pleading for Wilson to not be released: “I don’t imagine a lot with him has changed in the 9 months since his last hearing when he was refused for a variety of reasons.
Most importantly that he had committed a further offence while serving his current sentence but also that he continues to show no remorse for what he has done to Michelle.”
Wilson was served a life sentence and told he would have to serve 12 years before being considered for parole.
The family are preparing for the decision later this month and remaining rational on the outcome.
“Although we would hope that this one would be refused, we’re very realistic with the fact that the early release scheme is in action and the jails are overcrowded and that the Scottish government is trying to deal with that by releasing prisoners early.”
Lisa has called for a meeting with the Justice Secretary to raise concerns, face-to-face, around early release and overcrowding in prisons.
“I’ve got a lot of concerns around early release schemes it would certainly be worthwhile taking forward a meeting with the justice secretary to discuss this specifically with regards to where victims come into the picture there doesn’t seem to be a fair balance struck.”
“Rather than tackle the overcrowding of jails the government view is just release prisoners early from their sentence. Common sense would be to build more prisons which would therefore bring more jobs, bring a boost to the economy as well.”
Justice secretary Angela Constance stated her thoughts and sympathies remain with Michelle's family and that several reforms have already been made based on changes they'd campaigned for.
But she's stopped short of agreeing to meet.