child murder sentence

rogber

Apologies in advance for the morbid topic, but this is a purely theoretical question for research purposes regarding a story. I can't find a clear answer on citizens info legal pages:

If someone, in the mid 1990s, molested and murdered a child in Ireland and was sentenced to life imprisonment, is there any chance that now, 20 years later, if there were no previous convictions and their behaviour in prison was exemplary, that they would qualify for release? Or would the gravity of the crime almost guarantee that the perpetrator would remain behind bars till their dying day? Also, if the sexual element was in doubt, and pre-meditation could not be proved, would this make a difference? Or again, does child murder fall into a special category of sentencing in Ireland that makes early release almost impossible?
I don't think there has been such a case in Ireland, but the Huntley case in England would be roughly parallel - albeit with a double murder. He got a minimum of 40 years. But the situation here might be different...

Mr. Incognito

Murder is generally twenty years so, yes. They would qualify for release.

conorh91

rogber wrote: »

If someone, in the mid 1990s, molested and murdered a child in Ireland and was sentenced to life imprisonment, is there any chance that now, 20 years later, if there were no previous convictions and their behaviour in prison was exemplary, that they would qualify for release?

Yes, it is possible. Unlike the English and American courts, the Irish courts cannot recommend minimum terms before eligibility for parole. It's a matter for the Parole Board and the Executive.

The Parole Board usually begins to consider eligibility for parole after 15 years of imprisonment for prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment.

rogber

Thanks for above responses, which surprise me.
So the Parole Board goes on a case by case basis? In such a case involving a terrible crime against a child, what is the likelihood that such a killer would be released, even if it was a "one-off" incident? Would the severity of the crime/ the risk of re-offence make it likely that the perpetrator would stay behind bars? And if they were released, would they be allowed relocate to the UK, or given the mandatory life sentence, are they obliging to stay local so the authorities can keep an eye on them?

conorh91

rogber wrote: »

So the Parole Board goes on a case by case basis? In such a case involving a terrible crime against a child, what is the likelihood that such a killer would be released, even if it was a "one-off" incident?

Release on parole is practically inevitable, assuming the Offender was sufficiently young at the time of his life sentence. The question is almost moot for 80-year-old murderers, who will probably be dead before being eligible for consideration for parole.

Would the severity of the crime/ the risk of re-offence make it likely that the perpetrator would stay behind bars?

It might prolong the period of time before the Parole Board is willing to make a recommendation to release him, yes. But the known practice would dictate that parole is practically inevitable.

And if they were released, would they be allowed relocate to the UK, or given the mandatory life sentence, are they obliging to stay local so the authorities can keep an eye on them?

Parole is strongly conditional (in fact, a person sentenced to life imprisonment is still considered to be serving his sentence when on parole). I assume that a prohibition on residing outside the jurisdiction is always a condition of parole, but I do not know that.

the world wonders

The Parole Board just makes recommendations, the final decision belongs to the Minister for Justice, who as a politician could be theoretically be influenced by public opinion/tabloid articles.

Here is an interesting paper:
The Release and Recall of Life Sentence Prisoners: Policy, Practice and Politics on how parole works for lifers in general.

For example, in 2012 a life sentence prisoner died in hospital having served 36 years of a life sentence. Initially, he remained under 24-hour guard by two prison officers while receiving medical treatment for a stroke. He was only granted temporary release after he was medically declared to be in a vegetative state. Despite his medical condition, the Prison Service decided that it was necessary to electronically tag him during this period.

Pat Mustard

This is an English case admittedly but Robert Thompson and Jon Venables spent seven and a half years inside for the murder of James Bulger, who was aged two when he was murdered.

Venables and Thompson were each aged ten at the time of the murder, which differentiates them from adult murderers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_James_Bulger
http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/debate/columnists/paul-firth-a-question-of-release-and-redemption-as-bulger-killer-goes-back-into-custody-1-2564012

234

The Mustard wrote: »

This is an English case admittedly but Robert Thompson and Jon Venables spent seven and a half years inside for the murder of James Bulger, who was aged two when he was murdered.

Venables and Thompson were each aged ten at the time of the murder, which differentiates them from adult murderers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_James_Bulger
http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/debate/columnists/paul-firth-a-question-of-release-and-redemption-as-bulger-killer-goes-back-into-custody-1-2564012

Had they been a few months younger then they would not have been criminally responsible for their actions.

rogber

Again thanks for responses.
The James Bulger case is exceptional because of the age of the perpetrators.

The theoretical situation I'm interested in concerns an adult - no previous conviction, but an abduction, abuse suspected but not proved, and killing. More like the Huntley case in England where he killed two girls and got minimum of 40 years and is also very much a devil figure for the tabloids. The likelihood of him ever being released seems very small and I would have assumed in Ireland that in the case of particularly grave crimes the Parole Board and Minister for Justice would also rule to keep the prisoner locked up.

Uno my Uno.

rogber wrote: »

Again thanks for responses.
The James Bulger case is exceptional because of the age of the perpetrators.

The theoretical situation I'm interested in concerns an adult - no previous conviction, but an abduction, abuse suspected but not proved, and killing. More like the Huntley case in England where he killed two girls and got minimum of 40 years and is also very much a devil figure for the tabloids. The likelihood of him ever being released seems very small and I would have assumed in Ireland that in the case of particularly grave crimes the Parole Board and Minister for Justice would also rule to keep the prisoner locked up.

Murder in this country carries a mandatory Life sentence. Judges are not able to impose a minimum time to be served. Someone with a life sentence becomes eligible for parole after 15 years. Whether a convict is granted parole is an entirely different matter. Is it possible that a convicted child rapist and murderer could be released after 15 years? yes. Is it likely? I would think not, I wonder if there is any example of such an offender having been released.

rogber

Uno my Uno. wrote: »

Murder in this country carries a mandatory Life sentence. Judges are not able to impose a minimum time to be served. Someone with a life sentence becomes eligible for parole after 15 years. Whether a convict is granted parole is an entirely different matter. Is it possible that a convicted child rapist and murderer could be released after 15 years? yes. Is it likely? I would think not, I wonder if there is any example of such an offender having been released.

I guess this is what I'm also assuming. Possible - yes. Likely - no.
If anyone knows of an example, or a comparable case in Ireland, I'd be curious to know it.

spygirl

Lorcan Bale maybe? no sexual abuse involved as far as I know. He was 16 at the time of the murder and was released after 7 years i think, was a fairly gruesome case so might apply to what your looking for.

He was sentenced to life for the childs murder

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.