Grieving Eddie Prout was left terrified after a typing error in a letter led him to believe one of his brother's murderers could be freed this year.
Zahid Zaman and Ann Corbett were jailed for life after they were convicted of killing vulnerable Jimmy Prout in a torture-style murder that became known as one of the North East's most violent and shocking crimes of recent years. A judge ordered that Zaman serve at least 33 years behind bars and Corbett was handed a minimum term of 27 years.
But yesterday Eddie, who remained traumatised by the way his brother died, was horrified when he received a letter from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) informing him that Corbett's minimum tariff would be finished this year. When Eddie contacted the department he was informed the date in the letter was in fact a "typing error" and he was reassured Corbett would not be eligible for release until at least 2043.
Read more: Daughter's agony as man accused of dad's murder is cleared on 'insanity' grounds
The MoJ has since apologised and said it would be bringing in extra checks to ensure this type of error is not repeated. However, the mistake has left Eddie furious and he has blasted the MoJ for not ensuring more care was taken when writing such sensitive letters to victims of crime.
The 59-year-old said: "As soon as I read it my heart started pounding and I was crying. When you are writing to the family of a murder victim you should get it right."
Jimmy, who had learning difficulties, was subjected to a campaign of horrific violence, before he was eventually killed, in 2016. Newcastle Crown Court heard how Zaman inflicted unbelievable cruelty on the dad-of-two, from Scotswood in Newcastle, at the home they all shared in Percy Main near North Shields.
Zaman cut out one of Jimmy’s testicles and forced him to eat it, knocked his teeth out with a hammer and chisel and forced him to have to sex with a dog. Jimmy died on February 9, 2016, and his body was discovered more than a month later on wasteland near the Tyne Tunnel.
The court heard how disabled Zaman was the leader of a cult-like group of women, which included Kay Rayworth, Ann Corbett and Myra Wood. Zaman and Corbett attacked Jimmy, while Rayworth and Wood stood by and did nothing to help.
After a trial in 2017 serial liar Zaman, then 43, and Corbett, then 26, were also found guilty of murder.
Rayworth, 56, and 50-year-old Wood, were cleared of the killing but convicted of for causing or allowing the death of a vulnerable adult and perverting the course of justice. Both were jailed for 12 years but have since been freed.
Eddie, who lives in Newcastle's West End, had asked the MoJ's Victim Contact Scheme to keep him informed of the whereabouts and statuses of all those convicted over Jimmy's death on a yearly basis.
He received a letter on Tuesday informing him that Corbett and Zaman remained in closed prisons. The letter goes on to say that Zaman's Tariff Expiry Date (TED) is April 2049.
But it says Corbett's is April 2023, which would be just six years into her life sentence. The letter also misuses an apostrophe in the word 'offender's'.
"According to this letter Corbett was due out in April 2023," said Eddie. "When I first saw it I thought; 'How can she be getting out out now? What if I got it wrong and she could get out?
"I rang the person that sent it because I was fuming. She just said it was a typo. This is such important information, you would think they would check it before they sent it.
"She did apologise but an apology isn't enough. I'm still trying to get over things. I'm still having nightmares now."
The letter arrived just days after Eddie said his final goodbyes to Jimmy when he scattered his brothers ashes at North Shields Fish Quay.
A Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said: “We apologise for the distress caused to James Prout’s family and friends. Errors like this are extremely rare but we are putting in place extra checks to ensure this does not happen again.”
