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As I understand it, the reason Myra Hindley has not been released is that she is still considered to be a danger to the public. This is standard policy, and pretty much written in law, that murderers who have not repented and who are still considered to be a significant danger to the public are kept locked up.
This obviously goes wrong on occasion, but don't forget here that most prisoners do not appear to be a continuing danger to the public after, say, 18 years in jail.
I say '18 years in jail' because although the only sentence that can be passed is Life, actually most murderers only serve 12 or 14 years. This is because most murders are heat of the moment domestic killings. Crime related murders get more, as do what might be called 'pure violence' (e.g. psychopath murdering stranger) and those who kill children tend to serve longer sentences as well (although this is not an inviolable rule).
Actually Myra Hindley is not the only murderer to have a 'life means life' decision. There are a few others, all of whom are basically psychopaths and (I understand) are usually held at hospital jails, as is (again, as I understand) Myra Hindley.
Myra Hindley is surprising because:
(i) There are those who say she is no longer dangerous - Lord Longford (Long-something, anyway);
(ii) She is a woman - I am not aware of any other such case, although Ganesh is correct in the assertion that women tend to get more significant jail terms than men for equivalent crimes of violence (although less for crimes of dishonesty). Actually children get significantly smaller sentences than adults, but the sentencing structure is completely different so it isn't a comparison of like with like.
Finally, Myra Hindley has acted in ways which raise concerns. She has never identified where the bodies were buried, although she has said she would at several stages, often apparently in an attempt to negotiate some sort of improved treatment. She does, apparently, have clear psychoses. Also, to be blunt, she was an accomplice in the motiveless murder of two children who thereafter did not assist the authorities which tends to indicate that she is not somebody we want back on the streets.
On the other hand, of course politics plays a role. That's why sentencing should be purely in the hands of the judiciary! |
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