“The damage done by Sir Keir Starmer has been devastating,” he said. Ms. Ballard said. Photo: AFP
It was a brutal attack that sent Wendy Ballard and her family fleeing for their lives.
Mrs. Ballard, her husband and their son barely escaped with their lives when Paul Stellato blew up their house in retaliation for the fact that her daughter Jane, the mother of his two children, broke off their relationship.
Mrs. Ballard, her husband and their son barely escaped with their lives when Paul Stellato blew up their home.
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But their nightmare continued when Stellato, sentenced to 10 years for setting fire to their home, was released from prison without any conditions.
The court's decision to release their attacker from prison left them once more in fear for their lives and in need of police protection as he stalked them and repeatedly attempted to make contact with his daughters.
Stellato's early release came after Sir Keir Starmer, who was then simply Keir Starmer QC, successfully argued that his previous recall to prison for breaching parole conditions while he was on license was unlawful.
“It was absolutely devastating for my family when Paul Stellato was released. It left us constantly looking over our shoulders,” Ms Ballard told The Telegraph. “He was always there, no matter what we did, no matter where we went, he was there, following us. We were constantly afraid that he would come for us.”
Stellato was released from Woodhill Prison in 2005 under strict licensing conditions conditions. Photo: Eddie Mulholland
She added: “The damage done by Keir Starmer has been devastating. This has had a devastating impact on all of us. This could not be allowed. What Starmer did has had a terrible impact on my family. He is as guilty of this as Paul Stellato.
“Something needs to be done to protect families like mine from criminals like Stellato, because we had to live with life sentences, exactly the same as with life imprisonment. Stellato has. This should not be allowed by the legal system.”
Sir Keir argued on Stellato's behalf that under the Criminal Justice Act 1991 the arsonist should have been released automatically and unconditionally after serving three-quarters of his sentence.
The Court of Appeal accepted the challenge and Stellato was released. , as well as 15 other convicted criminals, whom the Home Office described as some of the “most dangerous people in the [prison] system”.
In December 1998, Northampton Crown Court heard that Stellato used Noddy's comic strip as a makeshift funnel to pour petrol into the letterbox of Mrs Ballard and her husband Ray.
After hearing a loud bang, the Ballards managed to escape by crashing them. the ground floor window of his home in Clay Hill, Milton Keynes, and climb out with his 16-year-old son Craig.
Stellato bombed the house just 10 days after being released from prison, where he had been held under imprisonment for another offense.
He had already subjected Miss Ballard to a two-year hate campaign, during which he made threatening calls from prison and sent letters promising harm to her family.
In one of them he wrote: “I am not making threats, but making promises.” . Your family will get it.” In another he signed himself “Arsonist.”
After being convicted of arson with intent to endanger life and perverting the course of justice, Stellato was released from Woodhill Prison in 2005 under strict license conditions, meaning he could be recalled to prison if he committed any crimes. or other offences.
He was returned to prison for breaching his license conditions and, following a further parole in December that year, was returned to prison in January 2006 after a further breach.
Stellato then went to the Court of Appeal to try to overturn an earlier decision that he was not eligible for unconditional release. They said the Home Office had incorrectly and “retrospectively” applied the provisions of new legislation under the Criminal Justice Act 2003, which came into force after he was handed a 10-year sentence for arson. Under the 2003 Act, offenders could be released midway but then remain on license for the rest of their sentence.
Sir Keir and his legal team were successful and Stellato was released in March 2007.
After being traumatized by the attack, the Ballards moved to the Spanish region of Valencia.
But after his early release, Stellato tracked them down and repeatedly tried to make contact with his two daughters.< /p>
Ms Ballard, now 66, said: “When Stellato was released from prison, the British police came out to tell us that he had been released on a technicality and to tell us that he would receive compensation for his imprisonment, something about £30,000. This in itself was shocking because we, the victims of his attack, received about £500 each.
“The British police, through the Spanish police, arranged security for us in case he came for us. At some point we decided that we would have to separate and live in different places: me, my husband and our daughter Jane, in case he found us.
“Stellato sent us letters from the UK after finding out where we lived and worked in Spain. He said he wanted to see his two daughters with Jane. His mother also wrote to us asking why we were not allowing her son to see the children.”
She added: “I have been threatened with these letters from him and his family. The nightmare never ended. He always tried to connect with his two daughters. They're not interested in seeing him at all, they don't want anything to do with him, but he was always trying to get to us.”
Among those who suffered the most from Stellato's early release in 2007, Jane's brother was born , who died due to serious mental health problems.
Mrs Ballard said: “My son Craig never got over it. He was doing well until Stellato was released. He was a promising hockey player. But after Stellato left prison, things went downhill for him. He never got over the shock of this and died several years ago. He was only 37.”
Stellato's criminal career began in 1989, when he received the first of dozens of convictions.
In November 1993 he was found. he has a checkbook and a check card taken during a robbery at the home of nurse Peggy Margrave.
Mrs Margrave, a children's nurse at Bedford Hospital, was sleeping with her husband when their home was destroyed. robbed.
By 5.40am that morning, £300 had been withdrawn from her bank account using her bank card, and a further £300 had been spent in the garage.
Stellato was given a concurrent three-month prison sentence by Milton Keynes magistrates, but to the disappointment of local police and his victims he was released having already spent five weeks in custody.
The career criminal was sentenced to life imprisonment for at least seven years in August 2018 after he was caught trying to buy three hand grenades on the dark web.
Following an investigation into his online activities by the National Crime Agency (NCA), a search of Stellato's flat in Brackley, Northamptonshire uncovered Class A and B drugs, including £5,500 worth of cannabis.
< NCA Squad Commander David Norris said: "Stellato has a history of violence and is a very dangerous man as his long criminal record shows."
But even though he is back inside Mrs Ballard and her family , he still can’t calm down.
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“He's always there in the background. And it seems shocking that he could be up for parole in 2025,” she said. “We will always be looking over our shoulders.”
Georgia Ballard, one of Stellato's two daughters, added: “It was a real shock to find out what happened to my family and to hear from my mom that he tried harm them. Thank God, after he attacked him, they got out of the house alive.
“He tried to contact me on social media, saying he wanted to see me. But I don't want anything to do with him. He may be my biological father, but he is not my father. I want nothing to do with him.”
Bristol Satanist forced children as young as nine to rob and steal
During a nearly ten-year reign of terror, a Bristol Satanist forced children as young as nine to rob and steal. steal and rob, turning them into drug addicts.
Gary Afflick handed out free drugs, getting young people hooked on heroin and cocaine, and then sending them out with instructions to commit several crimes.
The 31-year-old, who acted as Feigin's character overseeing a gang of child criminals, was eventually jailed for 14 years for 23 offenses including drug supply, kidnapping, blackmail and indecent assault.
Paul Stellato, the arsonist, and Harry Dover Afflick, the Satanist, were freed by Starmer. Photo: PA
But in February 2007, Afflick was released from HMP Garth in Preston, two years early, along with 15 other dangerous criminals, after the then QC Keir Starmer successfully argued that arsonist Paul Stellato had been sent back to prison illegally for violation of parole conditions. while on license.
Afflick was twice paroled to live in a hostel on bail, but each time he was sent back to prison for violating the conditions of his release.
The Court of Appeal agreed with Starmer and ruled that the Home Office had misinterpreted the law when it sent Afflick and the others back to prison for a second time.
The decision has stunned the families of many of the children Afflick preyed on.
The mother of one of his victims told the Bristol Evening Post at the time: “My son is in tatters. Afflick ruined his life and now he's back on the streets.
“Why are his rights being put above my son's? He will have to live with what Afflick did for the rest of his life. This is outrageous.
“My son is now 27 years old. He was a teenager when he was bullied. He still lives in care, like the other children he preyed on. The legal system in this country is disgusting.”
In 1997, Bristol Crown Court heard that Afflick preyed on vulnerable young people, usually aged between nine and 14, luring them back to his squat in the Southmead area of Bristol. , where he gave them free heroin and crack cocaine before forcing them into a life of crime.
After offering them refuge, he began to lecture them on Satanism and devil worship and kept them under a regime of beatings. and sexual abuse.
He twice kidnapped children from a nearby orphanage, and his reign of terror only came to an end when undercover police officers infiltrated his squat.
The judge at his trial described him as ” an evil influence that corrupts young people.” “.
Sentencing Afflick, Judge Simon Darwall-Smith said: “The jury found you guilty of corrupting young and vulnerable people, those running away from disadvantaged homes or those in care.”
“You supplied them with free drugs before until they became addicted, and then incited them to commit crimes so that the proceeds could be used to supply more drugs.”
“In some cases, you resorted to kidnapping or extreme violence to obtain their consent. “.
After being released from prison by the House of Lords in 2007, Afflick registered his address and contact details at Millgarth police station in Leeds – a requirement of the Sex Offenders Register.
p>But he quickly disappeared, causing a stir among families his victims fear he will track them down and take revenge.
The mother of one of the children he recruited reacted with fury, saying: “That’s why he should never have been released – it’s my worst nightmare.” come true. This man should never have been released. He will commit a second crime, I am sure of it.
“He must have laughed so hard when he was released. If he harms anyone else, the House of Lords will have a lot to answer for. What happened to justice being done?
Talked months later, police tracked Afflick to Leeds, where he was hiding. He was sent back to prison for four years – 18 months remaining on his original sentence, and two and a half years for violating his release conditions.
The now 57-year-old man was sentenced to prison in September this year. jailed again, this time for breaching a sexual harm prevention order designed to protect children.
Rapist roamed the streets after early release from prison
A rapist was allowed to roam the streets unsupervised after his early release from prison.
Although the rapist, known as Stan, was placed on the sex offenders register, this only required him to tell police where he was. and inform them of any changes in circumstances.
He was reported to have been released in 2007 following a trial in which Sir Keir Starmer argued to the Court of Appeal that the Home Office had misinterpreted the law in the case of another prisoner , arsonist Paul Stellato, who he said was eligible for unconditional release despite being twice summoned to prison for parole violations.
Upon his release, Stan was given a grant of £46 and directed to a nearby bus stop.
He later received a further £100 for clothes, £25 for shoes and £40 towards the purchase of a tent and sleeping bag.
At the time, even Stan, who maintained his innocence, said he was shocked by what happened. how the criminal justice system worked.
He told prisoner magazine Inside Time: “The system is rotten to the core. So-called educated people say that public protection is their number one priority, and people like me who are considered dangerous are thrown out onto the streets.
“I was disgusted that they could let me out without some kind of… or help. . And they never did anything to get me off the street.”
Referring to the then Home Secretary John Reid, who complied with a House of Lords decision to release him after Starmer successfully secured his release, “Stan” added: “Reid hit the nail on the head when he said the Home Office was not fit for purpose.” goals.
“A lot of changes need to be made.”
Then shadow home secretary David Davis called the rapist's release an “insult.” , and Inside Time's John Roberts said: “It's unbelievable that Stan left the system without any support or supervision.”
The Home Office said it was “disappointed” by the decision to release Stan and the other 15 prisoners.
At the time, the statement said: “Public protection is our highest priority. We are therefore naturally disappointed that the House of Lords has concluded that our arguments in this case are not persuasive.
“The decision affects a very small number of cases, some of which pose a potential risk to the public.< /p>
“We sought to extend their license – and revocation liability – until the end of their sentence to enhance public protection, which is of paramount importance. This decision does not allow us to do this.”
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