The Parole Board has recommended that the ringleader of a murder that shocked Britain in 2007 be moved to an open prison.
Garry Newlove was “kicked like a football” in front of his family by drunken youths he had challenged after they vandalised vehicles outside his Cheshire home.
Adam Swellings was one of three teenagers found guilty of the murder, committed after a seven-hour drinking binge. Then 19, Swellings was jailed for life with a minimum sentence of 17 years. Stephen Sorton, 17, was handed a 15-year minimum sentence, and Jordan Cunliffe, 16, was ordered to serve a minimum of 12 years.
The decision whether to support the board’s decision to move 33-year-old Swellings to a lower-security jail now rests with the justice secretary, Dominic Raab.
Newlove, a 47-year-old sales manager and father of three, confronted the teenagers barefoot before he was knocked to the ground outside his house in Warrington. The group walked off, leaving Newlove’s wife and three daughters to help him. Two days later, he died in hospital from a head injury.
In its recommendation, the board said there had been “no concerns” about Swellings’ behaviour during his time in custody, and his conduct had been “regarded as exemplary”.
Swellings’ probation officer noted his maintained a “positive outlook” and a psychologist said open conditions were “more realistic” to test his progress.
A move to an open prison is often the precursor to a full release. The board reviews about 26,000 cases annually, and fewer than 1% of prisoners it releases go on to commit a serious further offence.
During the 2008 trial, the jury heard Swellings had smoked five cannabis joints and drunk four litres of cider. He punched Newlove to the ground as other gang members shouted “Get him” and “Do him, Swellhead”. Cunliffe bragged afterwards that they had “just banged a man and he’s not moving”.
Calling the incident a “gang attack” when jailing the teenagers, Judge Andrew Smith said: “They were the actions of a courageous and devoted family man, who paid with his life. You three were only so brave because you outnumbered him many times over.”
In 2008, Newlove’s wife, Helen, told reporters that the UK should have the death penalty and she believed the convicted trio should never be released from prison.
In the document detailing the decision, Swellings was described as having “difficulties dealing with extremes of emotion” at the time of the murder and covering his “low self-esteem” with “arrogance in order to maintain status with antisocial friends”.
Following the case, Helen, now Baroness Newlove, campaigned for action on youth crime and created a charity, Newlove Warrington, aimed at improving facilities for children in the Cheshire town. From 2012 to 2019 she served as victims’ commissioner for England and Wales.
