First public parole hearing in UK history postponed

The first public parole hearing in UK history has been delayed after “compelling evidence” emerged of a “long campaign” to undermine the process which put the prisoner’s safety at risk.

The next review to consider whether Russell Causley, who murdered his wife and never revealed where he hid her body, could be released from prison was due to take place on Thursday.

It was set to be the first hearing of its kind which would not be held behind closed doors after changes in the law.

But the Parole Board said on Tuesday the hearing had been postponed after the panel of judges set to consider the case “very recently received compelling evidence that a long campaign has been undertaken not only to undermine Mr Causley’s risk management plan but also his personal safety”.

It is likely to be some time before a new date is set, meaning another parole hearing for a different prisoner may become the first to take place in public instead.

Now 79, Causley was handed a life sentence for killing Carole Packman who disappeared in 1985 – a year after he moved his lover into their home in Bournemouth, Dorset.

Causley was freed from prison in 2020, after serving more than 23 years for the murder, but was sent back to jail in November last year after breaching his licence conditions. He has never disclosed the location of Ms Packman’s body.

Their daughter, Samantha Gillingham, who was 16 when her mother went missing, has campaigned for years, alongside her son Neil, to keep her father behind bars and for his case to be heard in public.

The Parole Board said: “The parole hearing in the case of Russell Causley, which was scheduled for October 6, has had to be adjourned.

“The panel has very recently received compelling evidence that a long campaign has been undertaken not only to undermine Mr Causley’s risk management plan but also his personal safety. In the circumstances the panel has had to adjourn the public hearing so as to ensure it can be properly managed consistent with a fair hearing for all parties and the victims.

“The Parole Board had ruled that this hearing would be held in public and would be the first case to allow media and public to witness a parole review. This ruling still stands and, once a new date for the hearing in confirmed, those who registered to attend will be contacted with the details.”

Parole Board documents revealed Causley did not want the hearing to take place in public and had indicated he may not give evidence if the application to do so was granted.

Causley initially evaded justice for the best part of a decade after the murder by faking his own death as part of an insurance scam.

He was first convicted of murder in 1996 but this was quashed by the Court of Appeal in June 2003, and he then faced a second trial for murder and was again found guilty.