Government should not be considering sex offenders for early release, says victim of assault

A sex abuse survivor who met with Sir Keir Starmer said she feels “a massive betrayal” that her perpetrator is part of the early release scheme.

Speaking on GB News, Vicki Crawford said: “I reported the offences in 2018. It took two and a half years to investigate it, but it went to the CPS, and the CPS refused to charge him.

“I had to do a victims’ right to review, which I had to do up to stage two, and it’s quite rare to get that overturned at stage two, and he was charged with eight counts of indecent assault.

“It then went to court, and over the space of nearly three years, it was adjourned six times, five of which were on the day of the trial.

“It did go to trial in March of 2024 and he was convicted unanimously on every count. Each count would have amounted to 23 years, but they’re served concurrently, so he got seven years total sentence.

“So to find out that he’s being reviewed for release has been quite a shock after going through everything that I went through, especially the right to review, and the delays were horrific.

“This just feels like a massive betrayal, and it just feels like an injustice, because you fight for those sentences. They’re not something that just comes, there’s a long haul to get there.

“And to find that the government are now effectively slashing them, because the way that the early release scheme works, is it reduces the sentence really in all realistic terms.

“I think one thing that I found quite difficult is that the government aren’t being clear about what this early release scheme actually is. When you look at it in its entirety, it’s quite depressing to be on the receiving end of this.

“I don’t have the same level of fear for my safety, in as much as I don’t have to worry about grooming gangs, but I do have a fear for my safety, and I’m not sure that releasing a lot of prisoners very, very quickly can be done safely.

“I waived my anonymity because of court delays, so to be caught up in this as well is a bit of a double whammy. But I do feel disappointed.

“I have a lot of respect for politicians as people, but the politics is dreadful. When you’re caught up in such a massive news story like this one is it’s very difficult to put into words how I feel.

“I have respect for them in a lot of respects because I do believe they’re trying to do things but I also feel incredibly let down by what has happened, considering how recent it was that I met Keir Starmer.

“There are people in prison on sentences that don’t have an end date; they’re in prison for quite minimal crimes some of them. Start looking at their sentences, start looking at other people’s sentences.

“But when you release someone like a child sex offender, child sex offenders do not announce their risk, they hide it. You can’t be sure that you’re not letting out people that are going to reoffend.

“That would be what I want to say to them. Look at other offenders’ sentences, and really think about who you’re letting out, because letting out sex offenders is not a good thing at all.”