Adam Swellings was sentenced to life in prison for the 2007 murder of Mr. Newlove, who was assaulted following a scuffle over damage at his Warrington house. The Parole Board recommended earlier this month that he be sent to an open jail. However, Justice Secretary Dominic Raab has denied the transfer for Swellings, who will be eligible for release in August 2024.

“It’s my responsibility to keep the public safe, which is why I’ve opposed Adam Swellings’s effort to open jail,” Mr. Raab tweeted. Mr. Newlove’s murder was described as a “horrific crime,” and he went on to say, “Under our changes, we would adopt a more preventative approach – with public protection put first.” The swelling was 19 years old when he was sentenced to a minimum of 17 years in prison in 2008.

Mr. Newlove, 47, was booted “like a football” after he approached Swellings and two others over vandalism to his wife’s car outside his home, according to the trial. Stephen Sorton, then 17, and Jordan Cunliffe, then 16, were both sentenced to life in prison with minimum sentences of 15 and 12 years, respectively. Helen Newlove, Mr. Newlove’s wife, fought for action against adolescent criminality in the aftermath of the tragedy.

For her efforts, she was made Baroness Newlove in 2010 and then served as the Victims’ Commissioner for England and Wales from 2012 to 2019. Jordan Cunliffe was freed in 2020, despite a challenge from then-Justice Secretary Robert Buckland, who argued there was “insufficient evidence” that he was no longer a risk to the public.