Understand
Stockton grandmother calls for end to early prison release scheme after grandson's murder
Overview
Joy Dove, a grandmother from Stockton, is calling for the government's early prison release scheme to be stopped after her 26-year-old grandson, Lewis Bell, was stabbed to death in September 2024 by a former inmate released under the programme hours earlier. Liam Matthews, who hit Bell with a chisel, was among three men convicted over the killing, receiving a 15-year manslaughter sentence while another attacker was jailed for life for murder. The Ministry of Justice defended its actions, stating it inherited a collapsing prison system and is building 14,000 new prison spaces to address the crisis.
Key points
- Joy Dove's grandson, Lewis Bell, was killed in Stockton-on-Tees in September 2024 during a drug dispute.
- Liam Matthews, one of Bell's killers, had been released from prison hours earlier under the government's early release scheme.
- Matthews was sentenced to 15 years for manslaughter, while Sean McLeod received a life sentence for murder with a minimum of 23 years, and Ashton White received 10 years in youth detention.
- Dove has written to political leaders calling for the early release scheme to be halted, arguing it puts communities at risk.
- The Ministry of Justice stated that it inherited a broken justice system at the point of collapse and is building 14,000 new prison spaces to fix the issue.