Widow’s anger at wait for jail decision over killer who stabbed Gateshead police officer

The widow of a murdered Gateshead police officer has hit out at parole staff who she says are treating her like an "inconvenience".

Gill Merrin is awaiting a decision which could see her husband's killer moved to an open prison.

Sergeant William Forth, who was known as Bill, was murdered by Paul Weddle in 1993.

Weddle, now 56, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 25 years in 1994.

A parole board recommended in November that Weddle should be moved to open prison, but the decision now lies with Justice Secretary Alex Chalk.

Sergeant Forth, who had been a Northumbria Police officer for 14 years, was called to a potential domestic disturbance after Weddle smashed the window of a house where his ex-girlfriend was babysitting with her new boyfriend in Sunniside, Gateshead.

Weddle hit Sergeant Forth with a piece of fencing before stabbing him multiple times while high on a cocktail of drink and tranquillisers.

Ms Merrin had been expecting a decision in January over whether Weddle would be moved to an open prison - but has since been told it will take weeks due to new legislation that has come into place.

She has said no one had warned her, or her daughter, that there might be delays, and accused parole staff of treating them like an inconvenience.

"It's the fact that you're not informed", she said. "When you are, it's all last minute.

"I can tell that we are just an utter inconvenience. You call tell whenever you have an interaction that they're not happy that they have to do this, but they know they have to.

"The delay just feels like the last straw. I can't be the only one who's had this kind of problem.

"I appreciate that means he's not going anywhere, but that's not what is about. This is about the process and the additional angst and strain it puts on families."

Sergeant Forth was posthumously awarded the Queen's Commendation for brave conduct in 1996.

Mrs Merrin's application to have Weddle's latest parole hearing in public was rejected because most of the proceedings would have to take place in private.

She said: "They must have known that, so why do you put someone through that whole process when you know you're going to turn them down?"

Both Mrs Merrin and her daughter read statements at Weddle's private parole hearing in November.

"At the end of our reading our statements, the parole board thanked me and my daughter for our interest in the case", she explained. "Now that might sound like nothing to you, but that was offensive to me and my daughter.

"Our interest in the case? We are part of it. We weren't happy with that as a comment. To me it's not appropriate, we're not nosy bystanders here. I was his wife and that was his daughter."

The Parole Board and Ministry of Justice have not commented on this matter.

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