1 week Ago By [email protected] (Cathy Owen)
Every day John Actie has to walk past the Cardiff Bay flat where Lynette White was brutally murdered. It is just another reminder of how his life was destroyed 36 years ago when he was one of five men wrongly accused of her murder. it is a time of his life that has never left him and now with the imminent release of Lynette's murderer Jeffrey Gafoor, those feelings are heightened.
He was not informed of the Parole Board hearing that recommend the release, and when he heard the news being reported he described it as being "like someone has put their hand in my stomach and ripped it out." There is a 21-day window for any party to request reconsideration of the decision, and Mr Actie has instructed a solicitor to lodge an appeal. He has also said that several people have approached him asking to start a petition.
READ MORE: 'Barbaric' murderer stabbed lifelong friend in the heart then sent taunting text READ MORE: Unlicensed puppy breeder kept 29 dogs in cramped and filthy conditions Mr Actie said: "I knew he was up in front of the parole board but I was still shocked that he is to be released. We were never told anything, they don't care about us. "A solicitor has been instructed to make an objection.
We have got 21 days to appeal and we will be doing that. We want to see him kept in jail. It might have been 36 years, but it is with me every day.
I have to walk past the flat where it happened. It never goes away, and it never will go away." Gafoor was handed a life sentence in 2003 and ordered to serve a minimum of 13 years for the 1988 Valentine's Day murder of Lynette White.
Ms White's body was found in a flat above a betting shop in James Street, Butetown on February 14, 1988. She had been stabbed more than 50 times. You can read a full time-line of events here.
Documents show that at the recent parole hearing, oral evidence was given by Mr Gafoor’s probation officer based in the community and the official supervising his case in prison. Psychological assessment reports were available to the panel members and Gafoor also gave evidence. He was first considered for parole in 2016 and again in March 2018, but was refused on both occasions.
In 2020, Gafoor was moved to an open prison, 17 years after initially being jailed for the murder. But, a summary of a Parole Board hearing from May 21, 2021 stated that while Gafoor had been making progress since transferring to an open prison, Covid-19 restrictions prevented him "making as much progress as hoped". For the latest Welsh news delivered to your inbox sign up to our newsletter Now, after a hearing held this month, the Parole Board has confirmed Gafoor will be released, with the board deeming his risk could be "manageable in the community".
A spokesperson for the Parole Board said: “We can confirm that a panel of the Parole Board has directed the release of Jeffrey Gafoor from open conditions following an oral hearing held in October 2024. “This is his sixth review by the Parole Board since the end of the minimum tariff period set by the sentencing judge, which expired in 2016. Parole Board decisions are solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public if released and whether that risk is manageable in the community.
“A panel will carefully examine a huge range of evidence, including details of the original crime, and any evidence of behaviour change, as well as explore the harm done and impact the crime has had on the victims. Evidence from witnesses such as probation officers, psychiatrists and psychologists, officials supervising the offender in prison as well as victim personal statements may be given at the hearing. "It is standard for the prisoner and witnesses to be questioned at length during the hearing which often lasts a full day or more.
Parole reviews are undertaken thoroughly and with extreme care. Protecting the public is our number one priority." Papers show that there had been "no evidence of violence in custody".
And they said: "Mr Gafoor had improved his internal controls through steady progression during his sentence, as exemplified by successful completion of several temporary releases." The release would be subject to living at a designated address, to be of good behaviour, to disclose developing relationships and his use of vehicles, and to report as required for supervision or other appointments. He would also have to submit to an enhanced form of supervision or monitoring including signing in times, electronic tagging, and a specified curfew.
Initially five Black and mixed race men were falsely accused of Lynette's murder. In 1990 Stephen Miller, Tony Paris and Yusef Abdullahi were wrongly jailed for life after being found guilty of her murder before the trio, who became known as the Cardiff Three, were freed after an appeal. It was found police had "bullied" a confession from one of the men in one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in UK legal history.
It was not until 10 years after Mr Miller, Mr Paris and Mr Abdullahi were released that DNA identified Gafoor as a suspect for Ms White's murder. He was jailed for life with a minimum of 13 years at Cardiff Crown Court in July 2003 after pleading guilty to murder when he was 38. He confessed to stabbing Ms White with a knife more than 50 times following a row over £30.
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