The only one of four people convicted of the killing of Suzanne Capper to still be behind bars is to be released. The torture and death of the 16-year-old schoolgirl shocked Britain and a consequent 22-day trial reduced jurors to tears.
The Parole Board has directed that Glyn Powell should now be released.
Suzanne from Moston, was held captive then beaten, injected with drugs and subjected to brutal torture over seven days. She was then driven to woods near Romiley in Stockport where she was doused in petrol and set on fire. She survived long enough to name her attackers. This year, January 18 marked the 30th anniversary of her funeral at Blackley Cemetery.
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After a trial in November 1993, Jean Powell (now Gillespie), who was 26 at the time of the murder, Bernadette McNeilly, 24, Glyn Powell, 29, and Anthony Dudson, 16, were all found guilty of murder. Gillespie, McNeilly, and Powell were sentenced to life with a minimum of 25 years. Dudson was given a minimum term of 18 years - later reduced to 16. Clifford Pook, Jean's brother, and Jeffrey Leigh pleaded guilty to false imprisonment and were given 15 and 12 year sentences respectively.
Now, Powell - the final one of her killers still in jail - has been released. A spokesperson for the Parole Board said: “We can confirm that a panel of the Parole Board has directed the release of Glynn Powell following an oral hearing.
"Parole Board decisions are solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public if released and whether that risk is manageable in the community.
"A panel will carefully examine a huge range of evidence, including details of the original crime, and any evidence of behaviour change, as well as explore the harm done and impact the crime has had on the victims. Members read and digest hundreds of pages of evidence and reports in the lead up to an oral hearing.
"Evidence from witnesses such as probation officers, psychiatrists and psychologists, officials supervising the offender in prison as well as victim personal statements may be given at the hearing. It is standard for the prisoner and witnesses to be questioned at length during the hearing which often lasts a full day or more.
"Parole reviews are undertaken thoroughly and with extreme care. Protecting the public is our number one priority."
The murder happened just two months before James Bulger was murdered in Liverpool and, despite the twisted and prolonged violence used, did not generate the same level of media coverage as that case. But the two murders did combine to trigger national newspapers and leading politicians to comment on the state of the nation. Then, Shadow Home Secretary, Tony Blair, commenting on the two murders, described them as "hammer blows against the sleeping conscience of the country"
Suzanne, a pupil at Moston Brook High School, had spent time babysitting Jean Powell's three children at a terraced house in Langworthy Road and had stayed overnight. Living in the same house with her own three children was McNeilly.
The horrific spiral of torture and murder that would cost Suzanne her life began in early December 1992 when Powell and McNeilly called at her stepfather John Capper's house in nearby Bewley Walk, where she was living, and took her back to their house in Langworthy Road.
Driven by petty and false accusations, including a row over a pink duffel coat, the pair, assisted by Dudson and Glyn Powell, Jean's ex-husband, decided to torture her. As soon as she got to the house she was grabbed by Dudson and Glyn Powell who shaved off her hair and eyebrows.
The group then spent hours assaulting her before locking her in a cupboard. Suzanne was forced to take a bath in detergent. Two of her teeth we pulled out with pliers, her hair was shaved off and she was injected with amphetamines.
The next day she was moved to another house in the street and the appalling physical abuse continued after she was tied to an upturned bed. Eventually, on December 14, they decided to kill Suzanne.
For decades since Suzanne's death in 1992, her mother Elizabeth Dunbar and veteran Manchester MP, Graham Stringer, have campaigned to oppose any applications by the killers for parole, but three were released and only Powell remained in prison.
McNeilly's sentence was reduced by one year in 2013. Leigh's sentence was reduced from 12 to 9 years in November 1994. Dudson's minimum tariff was cut to 16 from 18 years in 2002. Leigh was freed in 1998 and Pook in May 2001.
McNeilly was paroled in 2015 after having her 25 year sentence cut by one year. Dudson was released in 2013. In 2017 Jean Gillespie, formerly Powell, was released. A Parole Board spokesperson said of Gillespie: "She got a 24 year sentence and spent one year on remand so from sentencing, 23 years. Her tariff expired in 2016."
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