‘Justice system is letting us down’: Man who violently shook baby set for early release
Every time her son has a seizure, Ellie (not her real name) is forced to recall the man who shook her tiny baby so violently he was left with life-changing injuries.
Her little boy was born healthy but when he was attacked, just weeks old, his life completely changed.
His mobility, vision, and ability to eat have all been seriously affected. Daily seizures are now normal. The injuries, she said, are a life sentence for her son.
That’s why it was so painful for Ellie to hear that the man who attacked her child is set to be released early from jail as part of a measure to free up space in overcrowded jails.
The man who attacked Ellie’s child is set to be released early
“Just walk a day in my shoes, and then tell me that your policy applies to us,” said Ellie, through tears, as she discussed the government’s decision to release people from prison early, in an effort to free up space in overcrowded jails.
“We’re completely heartbroken,” she said. “I feel like we fought for justice. And now the justice system is letting us down, letting my little boy down.”
The measure allows eligible offenders to be released after serving 40% of their sentence. Previously people would have been released after serving 50%.
On Tuesday, the next round of people will be released. It is only for those serving standard determinate sentences, the most common type of custodial term. There are certain exclusions in places – such as for sexual offences.
But it’s a decision that’s worrying victims of crime who have told Sky News they fear there are gaps and loopholes in the early release legislation which have not been properly accounted for.
Elizabeth Hudson’s ex-husband held a knife to her throat
Elizabeth Hudson is a victim of domestic abuse. Her ex-husband assaulted her and held a knife to her throat. While on bail he attacked another woman and was sentenced to just over six years.
Prisoners convicted of domestic abuse offences, such as coercive control, stalking and harassment, are exempt from this policy.
But her ex was charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm and threats to kill. They are not crimes specific to domestic abuse. So he’s eligible.
Elizabeth has written to Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood calling for change and has shared the letter with Sky News.
“Despite government assurances, domestic abuse survivors are being let down,” she wrote.
“Your department and other ministers have reassured the public that domestic abusers would not be allowed out early-this is clearly not the case.”
Ms Hudson’s letter to the justice secretary
Finding out her ex was set to be released early was like “being punched in the stomach”, said Elizabeth.
“After years and years of trauma, I worked so hard to get to a stronger place,” she said. “And this has just come as a bolt from the blue and kind of pushed me right back to where I don’t want to be.”
The victims’ commissioner, Baroness Newlove, has warned of fears for further victims because of the way that the policy is calculated. “I think there are gaps,” she said.
“Nothing’s 100% risk-free. Myself and the domestic abuse commissioner are concerned about the level of violence that, hidden under assault charges, could escalate once again. Hopefully nobody else will get hurt.”
Victims’ commissioner Baroness Newlove
In a statement, a Ministry of Justice spokesperson said the new government “inherited a prison system on the point of collapse” and “has been forced to introduce an early release programme to stop a crisis that would have overwhelmed the criminal justice system”.
They added: “The Lord Chancellor announced in July that she was scrapping the previous government’s early release scheme, replacing it with a system which excludes several domestic abuse-related offences.”
Reform MP Lee Anderson has been told to apologise in the House of Commons for “swearing twice at a security officer after his pass did not work” as he tried to enter parliament.
A report by the Independent Expert Panel (IEP) now requires Mr Anderson to “make an apology in the House of Commons for a breach of parliament’s bullying and harassment policy”.
The MP for Ashfield was found to have sworn twice at a security officer after his pass did not work when he was trying to enter the parliamentary estate in November 2023.
According to the report, on 3 November last year Mr Anderson instructed the guard to open a door at the Derby Gate search post, an entrance to parliament.
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When asked to show his pass, Mr Anderson allegedly said: “F*** off, everyone opens the door to me, you are the only one.”
Asked again to show his pass, Mr Anderson said ‘f*** you, I have a train to catch’, before walking out of the search post”, according to the complaint.
The report said Mr Anderson “accepted that he was ‘upset, impatient and angry’ but not ‘aggressive’, and denied swearing at the complainant.
The finding followed a complaint made to the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS) and an investigation by an independent investigator appointed by the ICGS who recommended that the complaint should be upheld.
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Mr Anderson appealed the finding to the IEP, but the sub-panel considering the case dismissed it, concluding it failed to raise any substantive grounds.
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It concluded Mr Anderson should apologise to the complainant, and to the House by way of a personal statement.
Mr Anderson was first elected to the seat of Ashfield in 2019 as a Conservative. He defected to Reform in March this year after he was kicked out of the parliamentary Conservative Party for refusing to apologise after alleging that London mayor Sadiq Khan was controlled by “Islamists”.
UK
Thomas Kwan: GP jailed for trying to kill mother’s partner by poisoning him with fake COVID booster jab
A GP who tried to kill his mother’s partner by disguising himself as a community nurse before poisoning him with a fake COVID booster jab has been jailed for 31 years.
Sentencing Dr Thomas Kwan, 53, at Newcastle Crown Court, Mrs Justice Lambert said: “It was an audacious plan to murder a man in plain sight and you very nearly succeeded in your objective.”
The Sunderland-based GP had written to Patrick O’Hara pretending to be a nurse called Raj Patel in November 2023.
He offered a home visit to administer the booster jab, which prosecutor Peter Makepeace KC said was a “pretext” to inject Mr O’Hara with a dangerous poison.
Kwan disguised himself by wearing a long coat, flat cap, surgical gloves, a medical mask and tinted glasses as he carried out a 45-minute examination of the 72-year-old in January.
The visit took place at the home of Kwan’s mother Jenny Leung – where Mr O’Hara was staying at the time.
He had initially denied attempted murder but changed his plea after he heard the prosecution open the case against him.
Patrick O’Hara said ‘justice has been done’ after the sentencing. Pic: PA
Speaking after Kwan was sentenced, Mr O’Hara said he thinks “justice has been done” and thanked police and prosecutors.
“The sincerity and the professionalism they have shown has been amazing,” he added.
Police initially thought the GP used the chemical weapon ricin to try to kill Mr O’Hara, but an expert believed a pesticide was more likely.
The prosecution said Mr O’Hara had been a “potential impediment” to Kwan inheriting his mother’s estate upon her death.
Ms Leung had named the 72-year-old in her will to the effect that he could stay in her home in St Thomas Street, Newcastle, should she die before her partner.
This led to a strained relationship between Kwan and Ms Leung, Newcastle Crown Court heard.
Thomas Kwan had forged letters to Mr O’Hara and stayed in a hotel under a fake name.
Pic: Northumbria Police/PA
The court previously heard how Kwan wrote to Mr O’Hara posing as the nurse, and how he had forged NHS documentation to set up the home visit.
He also used false number plates for the journey to Newcastle and booked a city centre hotel using a false name.
Speaking in court on Wednesday, Mrs Justice Lambert said the letters were “good forgeries,” and said Mr O’Hara and Ms Leung would not have had reason to suspect they were fake.
“By your masquerading, you struck at the heart of public confidence in the health care profession,” she told Kwan.
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In October, Mr Makepeace told Newcastle Crown Court that Mr O’Hara “had done absolutely nothing to offend Mr Kwan in any way whatsoever”.
It was noted that police were called to Ms Leung’s property after Kwan burst in uninvited in November 2022.
Prosecutors also described Kwan as “money-obsessed” and noted he installed spyware on his mother’s laptop to monitor her finances.
Mrs Justice Lambert then said Wednesday that Kwan was “certainly obsessed by money and more particularly, the money to which you considered yourself entitled”.
“Whatever the deep-rooted cause, by 2024 and well before,” she said, “your resentment and bitterness towards your mother and Mr O’Hara was all to do with money and your belief you were not being given money which you thought you were entitled to.”
The judge then said Kwan chose iodomethane – used in pesticides – as it would be difficult for medics to detect, and added the GP showed “distorted thinking,” a “morbid obsession” with toxic chemicals, and a “capacity for most extreme behaviour in order to meet your own needs”.
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When he attended his mother’s home last year, the court was told Kwan also checked Ms Leung’s blood pressure when she asked.
While Kwan administered the injection, Mr O’Hara shouted in pain. The GP told him the reaction was not uncommon while speaking in broken English using an Asian accent, and left the home quickly.
A day after the fake COVID jab, Mr O’Hara’s arm had become blistered and seriously discoloured as he developed necrotising fasciitis, a flesh-eating disease.
Officers were able to track Kwan – still in disguise – back to a city centre hotel and then to his home in Ingleby Barwick, Teesside.
They then discovered an array of dangerous chemicals which the GP had amassed in his garage.
Paul Greaney KC, defending, said on Wednesday that the GP was previously of positive good character and had “ruined his life”.
He described Kwan’s disguise, when he passed himself off as a nurse, as “amateurish” and “clumsy”.
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