Prisoner who killed a young mum says he's entitled to IVF

A man who shot dead a young mother, and who is now serving a 31-year prison sentence for her murder, says he should be allowed to have IVF treatment because he believes it's his human right.

Aaron Newman shot dead Hayley Pointon, 30, in February 2013, but believes he should be allowed to get his girlfriend pregnant even though he is behind bars.

The controversial request has already stirred up public opinion on social media, but Cody Lachey, former prisoner and prison reform campaigner believes that having a child is a basic human right that prisoners are being stripped of.

He explained: “The last thing you want to do is dehumanise people. Prisoners should be given the basic human right to father a child while behind bars.”

The powers that be at the Ministry of Justice said that, ‘permission is given very rarely’ with only 10 British inmates being granted IVF requests in the past 50 years.

The approval process for inmates to have IVF treatment is lengthy and has to be signed off by the Secretary of State, it also takes into account other factors such as how long the prisoner and their partner have been in a relationship, plus the age of the woman.

Criminal barrister and former Conservative MP, Jerry Hayes opposes IVF in prisons. He said: “It’s just plain wrong. It would be a slap in the face for all those people who cannot get IVF in this country on the NHS. 73% of all NHS trusts don’t give IVF treatment.”

He added: "prisoners would be able to jump the IVF queue because they don’t have to have the same criteria."