Just weeks after they were implemented, a killer invoked European human rights legislation to prevent a crucial aspect of UK parole regulations.
In an effort to be released from prison earlier, Adrian Bailey’s attorneys filed a High Court appeal. Bailey was sentenced to life in prison for inflicting fatal brain damage on a victim.
As a result of a judge’s favourable interim order, Dominic Raab, the secretary of justice, was unable to implement his changes.
Bailey’s ‘right to liberty’ under the European Convention on Human Rights was a key factor in his legal win.
David Beech was left in a pool of blood during a confrontation outside a Stoke bar in 1998 between Bailey and another guy.
Mr. Beech, 42, was paralysed and had significant brain damage. For violence, unemployed Bailey was originally sentenced to five years in prison.
However, Mr. Beech passed away in 2004 from medical issues brought on by his injuries, and in a legal first, Bailey was charged with murder. He was found guilty and given a life sentence.
At the age of 46, he is up for parole. The amendments proposed by Mr. Raab are intended to make it more difficult for dangerous criminals to get release.
His agency will “provide a single position on the prisoner’s fitness for release,” according to a revision he made to the guidelines for parole hearings last month.
Therefore, probation officials and authorised witnesses like prison psychologists are prohibited from providing the Parole Board with their own personal “opinion or suggestion” about whether or not a convict should be released.
It was’strongly arguable,’ according to the court who heard Bailey’s legal challenge, that Mr. Raab’s advice to authorities was illegal or went beyond his legal authority.
Judge Nigel Bird refused to issue an injunction against the primary provision of Mr. Raab’s parole regulations, but he did provide “interim relief” against a different directive to officials about how they should respond to inquiries during hearings.
Bailey’s appeal is still awaiting a thorough hearing. Last night, it wasn’t apparent how the temporary decision would impact future parole hearings.
The revisions, according to a spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice, are intended to “keep our streets safe.”