Mother of teenager who died in a car crash hits out at scheme that can release the driver early
Video report by Richard Morgan
The mother of a teenager who died in a car crash has hit out at a scheme which could see the driver released early from prison.
Chloe Hayman was just 17 when she died in July 2022, killed in a car crash near Fochriw in Caerphilly county.
Keilan Roberts, who was at the wheel, was over the limit for alcohol and had also taken cocaine, ecstasy and ketamine.
The pair had only met that evening at a nightclub in Pontypridd, and Roberts drove despite the pleas of friends not to take the wheel.
Last year, he was sentenced to 5 years and 3 months for causing death by careless driving.
But he could be out as soon as next spring, following UK government changes to sentencing rules.
Chloe’s mother, Danielle O’Halloran, says that is wrong.
“He’s only been in prison a year and he’s already been moved to an open prison,” she told ITV Cymru Wales.
She added: “And with this new scheme, it’s just too much - we’re not going to see Chloë ever again. He’s going to have the rest of his life to come out and rebuild his life”
“I don’t think this should be given to people.”
The new Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary, Shabana Mahmoud, announced recently that current rules about prisoner release - known as the “End of Custody Supervised Licence” - would be relaxed.
It means offenders serving time for less serious crimes could be let out after 40 per cent of their sentence, rather than the current 50 per cent.
The move is intended to free up space, with prisons in England and Wales having been at more than 99% capacity every month bar one this year.
Prison reformers say the move is desperately needed to prevent prison violence and stop further offending on the outside.
“There is not enough space in the system to give [prisoners] the courses, the education, the intervention that they need in order to turn their lives around and turn away from offending,” said Andrea Coomber KC, from the Howard League for Penal Reform.
Andrea said: “It’s the only way, frankly, to buy the government some headroom to decide what they want to do with the prison system, because our prisons are simply awful.”
“Ever longer sentences mean [inmates] aren’t being released in the way they used to be,”
“And that means you can’t use prison for people who are dangerous and really need to be in prison.”
Sentences for serious violent offences of four years or more, as well as sex offences, will be automatically excluded from the new scheme.
While the early release of offenders in prison for domestic abuse connected crimes - such as stalking and controlling or coercive behaviour - will also be disallowed.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice said the prison system was “in crisis.”
“If we fail to act now, we face a total breakdown of law and order, putting victims at greater risk”, the statement said.
“We are working with partners to manage the impact of these changes, including on victims”
“The Lord Chancellor has also committed to recruiting 1,000 trainee probation officers to strengthen supervision in the community and better protect the public.”
Back in Wales, Danielle says she’s determined to remain as positive as possible for her two remaining children.
She said: “I don’t want to be a miserable, depressed mother. I just want to be as happy as I can be for them.
“I want to be a role model for them that whatever happens in life we don’t have to go down that rabbit hole. We don’t have to sit in sadness and go down that dark hole.”
In the ongoing debate over whether prison is working, she’s also determined that the voice of the victim continues to shine through.
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