A man who murdered his wife 37 years ago will become the first prisoner to have a public Parole Board hearing, under rules designed to boost transparency and confidence in decision-making.
Caroline Corby, the chair of the Parole Board of England and Wales, said on Tuesday the next hearing to consider whether Russell Causley, 79, should be released would be open to the public, after a rule change that took effect from 21 July.
Causley is serving a life sentence for the 1985 murder of his wife, Carole Packman. He has never revealed the whereabouts of her body. Causley was freed from prison in 2020 after serving more than 23 years for the murder, but he was returned to jail in November last year after breaching his licence conditions.
His grandson Neil Gillingham was among those who applied for the hearing to take place in public. His arguments include that there is a legitimate public interest in seeing how the requirement for the board to take account of lack of cooperation by a killer, known as Helen’s law, works in practice.
The application was supported by the justice secretary but opposed by Causley, who indicated that he might not give evidence if it were held in public.
Granting the application, Corby said: “Mr Causley’s case is the first case where the prisoner has not disclosed the location of the body of the victim since the passing of the Prisoners (Disclosure of Information about Victims) Act of November 2020 and the changes to the Parole Board rules on 21 July 2022 allowing for public hearings.
“Although the primary focus of the hearing will be the reasons for recall and the assessment of risk, it will be the first opportunity for the public to see how the Parole Board approaches this issue at a hearing, which is a relevant factor.”
She also cited the seriousness of Causley’s crime, that it was a high-profile case, and the wishes of the victims, who support a public hearing despite having been given permission to attend a private hearing.
The move to open up some parole hearings was one of a raft of changes triggered by the ultimately quashed decision to release the black-cab rapist John Worboys.
Corby’s decision allows members of the public to apply to attend the hearing, which is scheduled to take place on 6 October in front of a three-member panel. The public will not be in the room, instead viewing it remotely by video link, minimising the potential for disruption to the hearing.
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Corby stressed that the normal position was that parole hearings would remain in private to allow witnesses to give their “best evidence” and because evidence can be highly personal or distressing to victims. As such, she said, there must be good reasons to depart from the general rule.
“In the application for a public hearing in the case of Mr Causley, I have decided that there are special features, which set it apart from other cases, which may add to the proper public understanding of the parole system,” Corby said.
Causley has spent eight years longer in custody than the minimum period set by the sentencing judge in his case, and this is the seventh time his case has been referred to the Parole Board.