Murderer's release rejected days before death

Farrant was captured in France after five months on the run

The bid for a murderer to be released from prison early had been rejected just days before he died.

Victor Farrant was convicted of the murder of Glenda Hoskins, 44, in 1996.

Ms Hoskins’ family had been told earlier this year that Farrant was being considered for early release on compassionate leave.

They told the BBC that the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) informed them of a decision to reject the request last week.

The Prison Service said Farrant, 74, died at HMP Wakefield on 3 May.

Glenda Hoskins lived with her three children in Portsmouth

Ms Hoskins’ son Iain Hoskins said: “We’d been contacted the day before [Farrant’s death] by the justice department’s victim liaison, and they told us that they weren’t progressing the plans for his release to the next stage.

“That was a relief, but then still having this hanging over us, that this potentially could happen at some point in the future, was very stressful and we didn’t quite understand where we should be going forward.”

Earlier this year, Ms Hoskins’ family said they had been contacted by officials who said Farrant was being considered for compassionate leave as he had been diagnosed with terminal cancer and could have months to live.

A Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (Mappa) meeting in April looked at the case, which the family said had been passed on to the prison governor to decide whether to make a formal application for his release.

The MoJ said the prison governor had recently concluded that the criteria to grant this was not met.

Glenda Hoskins was killed by Victor Farrant, who drowned her in the bath of her home in Portsmouth

Mr Hoskins told the BBC that a lack of “clarity” and “transparency” from the MoJ hadn’t “helped us through the process and given us information that we needed to be able to process”.

“All those things combined unfortunately haven’t helped these last couple of months and cost us probably way more stress and anxiety than what was needed,” he added.

In a statement, the MoJ said: “Our victim liaison officers aim to keep victims aware of key updates or potential changes about offenders so that they feel well-informed.

“We are sorry that Glenda Hoskins’ family were left confused by our communications which were done with the best of intentions.”

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