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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Anger over absconded Birmingham killer Lee Wheeler | Anger over absconded Birmingham killer Lee Wheeler |
| (about 20 hours later) | |
| The widow of a man who was stabbed to death has said she is disgusted to hear his killer has absconded from an open jail. | The widow of a man who was stabbed to death has said she is disgusted to hear his killer has absconded from an open jail. |
| Lee Wheeler, convicted of Leon Kerr's manslaughter in Birmingham in 2010, failed to return from day release to Sudbury Prison. | Lee Wheeler, convicted of Leon Kerr's manslaughter in Birmingham in 2010, failed to return from day release to Sudbury Prison. |
| Mr Kerr's widow, Paula Hendrickson-Kerr, believes Wheeler should not have been in an open prison at all. | Mr Kerr's widow, Paula Hendrickson-Kerr, believes Wheeler should not have been in an open prison at all. |
| But a Prison Service spokesman said open prison inmates are risk assessed. | |
| "I think it's disgusting," Ms Hendrickson-Kerr told BBC WM. | "I think it's disgusting," Ms Hendrickson-Kerr told BBC WM. |
| "I understand they have to let criminals back into society but for someone who has taken someone's life, open prison, I don't think is the way. | "I understand they have to let criminals back into society but for someone who has taken someone's life, open prison, I don't think is the way. |
| "They need to be locked up for that full-time." | "They need to be locked up for that full-time." |
| 'Based on trust' | 'Based on trust' |
| She added: "I think if you kill someone it's a life for a life. In America you do that time. You don't get out in three or four years' time. | She added: "I think if you kill someone it's a life for a life. In America you do that time. You don't get out in three or four years' time. |
| "You do that full sentence." | "You do that full sentence." |
| Wheeler, 33, was let out on 23 December but did not return to the jail in Derbyshire. | Wheeler, 33, was let out on 23 December but did not return to the jail in Derbyshire. |
| He has served three years of a nine-and-a-half-year sentence, after being convicted of stabbing Mr Kerr in Small Heath, in 2010. | |
| Police believe Wheeler could be staying in the Birmingham area. | Police believe Wheeler could be staying in the Birmingham area. |
| Juliet Lyon, from the Prison Reform Trust, said the open prison system was based on trust. | |
| She said inmates who abscond have a lot to lose because they are subject to their full sentence when they return to jail. | She said inmates who abscond have a lot to lose because they are subject to their full sentence when they return to jail. |
| A Prison Service statement said: "All those located in open prisons have been rigorously risk assessed to be deemed suitable for these conditions. | |
| "Open prisons provide the most effective means of ensuring that long-sentenced prisoners are tested in the community before they are released." |