Release of inmate who killed hours later reviewed

A review is under way into the early release of a prisoner who killed a man hours after walking free from jail, the government has said.

Liam Matthews, 26, was armed with a chisel when he joined two others to hunt down and kill Lewis Bell, 26, over a drug den feud in Stockton in the early hours of 19 September.

He had been released from prison the previous morning as part of a scheme to ease pressure on crowded prisons, having been jailed three and a half months earlier for his part in a group attack on another man.

The Ministry of Justice said its thoughts remained with Mr Bell's family who would be informed of the review's findings.

At the sentencing hearing of Mr Bell's killers on Thursday, prosecutor Peter Makepeace KC told Teesside Crown Court that Matthews, of no fixed abode, had 25 previous convictions for 128 offences committed between 2015 and 2024.

Mr Makepeace said the majority were for "relatively minor dishonesty offences", most usually shoplifting, and he had a "record typical of a life of acquisitive crime to fund drug use".

In June 2024, Matthews was jailed for 22 months for violent disorder for an attack six months earlier on a man in Stockton.

A court heard the victim had been armed with an air rifle outside a house on Bowesfield Lane when Matthews and four others, armed with weapons including an axe, went out to confront him.

The man was knocked to the ground and kicked as he lay unconscious before Matthews approached from behind, stamped on him and went through his pockets, the court heard.

Matthews was armed with a "long, thin, silver metal spike type" item which was "not dissimilar" to the chisel he used in the attack on Mr Bell, Mr Makepeace said.

He was released from jail on 18 September, eight days after the government's early release prison scheme came into force, with Mr Bell being killed hours later.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: "Our thoughts remain with the family and friends of Lewis Bell.

"A review of what happened is under way and will be shared with his family."

They said the Labour government elected in July 2024 introduced an emergency early release programme to "avert a crisis which would have led to the police being unable to arrest people nationwide".

The spokesperson claimed the commission of serious offences by those released was "incredibly rare", with "less than 0.5% of offenders under statutory supervision convicted of one".

They added the government "understands the devastating impact they have which is why they are all reviewed".

Matthews was jailed for 15 years, with a further four years to be served on extended licence, after being found guilty of Mr Bell's manslaughter.

Sean McLeod, 23, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 23 years for murder and Ashton White, 18, sentenced to 10 years youth detention for manslaughter.

A fourth man, Macauley Wright, 26, who had been a close friend of Mr Bell's family, was jailed for two and a half years after he admitted assisting an offender by helping the killers escape in a taxi and dispose of evidence.

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