Killer pensioner's contempt for law

THE fact that pensioner Ernest Wright shot dead a man in Bradford, almost 40 years after he committed his first murder, should have come as no surprise to police.

A highly manipulative and dangerous career criminal, the 68-year-old first came to the attention of the police in Shipley, West Yorkshire, when he was only eight years old following a handbag theft.

Jailed for 13 years for the murder of the husband of his pregnant lover, Wright actually served double that time in prison after going on the run four times during his incarceration. Only the most dangerous of individuals obtain this level of ignominy.

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Given Wright's record of notoriety – and subsequent prison sentence for an assortment of motoring offences – it, once again, raises serious questions about why such a dangerous individual was released from custody on "licence" and, therefore, in a position to shoot dead Neville Corby a year ago.

The family and friends of Mr Corby will draw little comfort from the fact that Wright was sentenced to life in prison yesterday – 39 years after his first "'life" sentence. Their loved one was not given a second chance. Wright, and so many killers jailed for life, continue to be given such a luxury – and then abuse this misplaced trust when released back into the community.

Three recurring themes underpin such tragedies. Firstly, these appalling cases make a mockery of the Government's repeated assertion that the interests of crime victims should come first.

Second, the fact that a confidence trickster, like Wright, was roaming the streets will lead Labour's critics to contend, once again, that sentencing is being driven by the number of available prison cells than the seriousness of a criminal's record, and the threat that they pose to the law-abiding public.

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And, finally, just who is monitoring individuals like Wright when they are on "licence" – and at a time when detectives believed that he was committing burglaries, and mixing in criminal circles, immediately

prior to Mr Corby's senseless death?