Victim’s daughter ‘disappointed’ as UK first sees killer paroled after public hearing

The wife murderer who was the subject of the UK’s first public parole hearing can be freed, officials ruled on Thursday, sparking criticism from the victim's family.

Russell Causley, who has never revealed where he hid Carole Packman’s body, can be released from prison, the Parole Board said on Thursday.

Their daughter Samantha Gillingham, from Northamptonshire, said she was “disappointed” at the decision but now hoped to confront her father.

Causley’s case made UK legal history last year when he became the first prisoner to face a public parole hearing.

“After considering the circumstances of his offending and time on licence, the progress made while in custody and the evidence presented at the hearings, the panel was satisfied that Mr Causley was suitable for release,” the Parole Board said.

A panel of three parole judges considered Causley’s evidence, testimony from probation officials and more than 650 pages of information including a victim-impact statement before making their decision.

During the hearing, which took place in Lewes prison, East Sussex, relatives, members of the public and journalists watched the proceedings on a live video link from the Parole Board’s offices in Canary Wharf, London.

Causley insisted that he “loved” his wife but also told how he “adored” his mistress.

The panel of parole judges also urged him to come clean about Ms Packman’s death.

A summary of their decision described Causley as a “self-confessed liar” who both “maintains that he is innocent” and “does accept that he disposed of her body”.

Causley will be subject to “strict” licence conditions, including being required to live at a certain address, and have restrictions on his movements, activities and contacts.

Ms Gillingham called the parole process a “tick-box exercise”.

Samantha Gillingham: 'We still don’t know where my mother is.' PA

“There isn’t really anything that I can appeal on,” she said.

“They’ve heard that he’s a compulsive liar. Nothing can be believed. We still don’t know where my mother is.”

She also described laws, intended to make it harder for killers to get parole if they refuse to reveal where they hid their victim’s body, as “not worth the paper it is written on”.

Causley was handed a life sentence for killing Ms Packman, who disappeared in 1985 from the family home in Bournemouth, Dorset.

He evaded justice for the best part of a decade by faking his own death as part of an insurance scam.

Causley was first convicted for murder in 1996 only for that to be quashed by the Court of Appeal in 2003. He was found guilty again at a second trial.

He was freed from prison in 2020 after serving more than 23 years for the murder but was sent back to jail the following year after breaching his licence conditions.

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Key findings of Jenkins report

Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."

MATCH INFO

Champions League quarter-final, first leg

Ajax v Juventus, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)

Match on BeIN Sports

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

heading

Iran has sent five planeloads of food to Qatar, which is suffering shortages amid a regional blockade.

A number of nations, including Iran's major rival Saudi Arabia, last week cut ties with Qatar, accusing it of funding terrorism, charges it denies.

The land border with Saudi Arabia, through which 40% of Qatar's food comes, has been closed.

Meanwhile, mediators Kuwait said that Qatar was ready to listen to the "qualms" of its neighbours.

Key facilities

Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
Premier League-standard football pitch
400m Olympic running track
NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
600-seat auditorium
Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
Specialist robotics and science laboratories
AR and VR-enabled learning centres
Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills

Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.

The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.

Part three: an affection for classic cars lives on

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative

Read part one: how cars came to the UAE

While you're here

Richard Jolly: Man City's appeal win eradicates uncertainty over club's future prospects

Nick March: City fans don’t miss the bad old days, they’re too busy living in the moment

Damien McElroy: What the failed Newcastle takeover says about Boris Johnson's Britain

Specs

Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
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The Indoor Cricket World Cup

When: September 16-23

Where: Insportz, Dubai

Indoor cricket World Cup:
Insportz, Dubai, September 16-23

UAE fixtures:
Men
Saturday, September 16 – 1.45pm, v New Zealand
Sunday, September 17 – 10.30am, v Australia; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Monday, September 18 – 2pm, v England; 7.15pm, v India
Tuesday, September 19 – 12.15pm, v Singapore; 5.30pm, v Sri Lanka
Thursday, September 21 – 2pm v Malaysia
Friday, September 22 – 3.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 3pm, grand final

Women
Saturday, September 16 – 5.15pm, v Australia
Sunday, September 17 – 2pm, v South Africa; 7.15pm, v New Zealand
Monday, September 18 – 5.30pm, v England
Tuesday, September 19 – 10.30am, v New Zealand; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Thursday, September 21 – 12.15pm, v Australia
Friday, September 22 – 1.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 1pm, grand final