DAVID LAWS COLUMN: Admiration for Wells-Burr family

YEOVIL MP David Laws has said he has “nothing but admiration” for the family of murdered South Somerset woman Catherine Wells-Burr.

Mr Laws has spent time with the Wells-Burr family during the past fortnight with two trips up to London from Chard as they have campaigned to ensure that Catherine’s killers remain behind bars in this country.

In the latest of his regular articles for the Yeovil Press, Mr Laws explains what has been happening.

“I am sure many people in the South West, and across the country in fact, remember the terrible murder of Catherine Wells-Burr (pictured right),” he said.

“It was an awful crime which shocked our local community and left Catherine’s family and friends devastated. Three Polish nationals were convicted of her murder, which took place back in September 2012, and each one was sentenced to serve a minimum of 32 years in prison.

“Unfortunately, two of the people convicted have now applied to serve their sentences in Poland. This means that, because of Polish sentencing laws, they would be able to apply for parole after 25 years and possibly serve a substantially shorter sentence.”

Mr Laws added: “One of the dreadful aspects of these applications is that it has meant Catherine’s family are still being denied some form of closure as the legal elements of this case continue.

“Her parents, Jayne and Philip, and her sister Leanne fought tirelessly for justice for Catherine and they are now being forced to fight again. They feel very strongly that Catherine’s killers should serve the full sentences handed down to them by the British legal system.

“The frustrating reality is that if they are transferred to Poland the family have no guarantee that this will happen.”

Mr Laws continued: “I have nothing but admiration for Jayne, Philip and Leanne. Last Thursday (pictured top) I accompanied them to Number Ten Downing Street where they handed a petition in calling for the applications to be rejected. In a relatively short period of time nearly 10,000 people had signed a paper copy or an electronic version of their petition.

“And yesterday (Thursday, April 3, 2014) they were back in London again as I had arranged for them to meet with Jeremy Wright MP, the Minister in the Justice Department who has the final responsibility for making a decision on this matter.

“After all they have gone through Jayne and Philip still managed to explain, in a passionate but dignified way, why they feel so strongly that Catherine’s killers should serve the minimum sentences handed to them.

“We must now wait for a decision to be made, but I think it was important that Jayne, Philip and Leanne had the opportunity to talk directly to the Minister, and that he was able to hear their concerns first hand.”

Anyone wanting to speak with Mr Laws about an issue – please call his Yeovil office on 01935-423284.

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