The grandmother of the man who killed her daughter and two grandchildren has criticized the ‘disgraceful’ delay in the parole hearing.
The review was postponed after Carol Quinn’s son and his wife traveled 300 miles round trip to represent the family, who are now experiencing new stress as a result of the proceedings.
It has been more than twenty years since Phillip Geoffrey Austin killed his wife Claire with a bludgeon and a knife before murdering their children, but he is now up for consideration of his release on parole.
Carol said her son, Matthew Golden, and his wife, Vicky, travelled from their home in Northamptonshire to Suffolk the night before the hearing, but as reports about Austin were not available the hearing was adjourned on the day for almost three months.
She told Metro.co.uk that the uncertainty and prospect that Austin may be released have already taken a heavy toll on the family.
Carol said: ‘It was an absolute farce. My son and his wife went to the hearing, I couldn’t go because my husband is not well so there was a Ministry of Justice representative for us.
‘They travelled down the night before because the hearing was near Ipswich.
‘My son read his statement out and the Ministry of Justice representative read mine and my husband’s statement. The offender was asked if he wanted to go into the room, but he refused, he was too much of a spineless coward to face the family. Then they were told it was being adjourned because they didn’t have all of the reports regarding his behaviour from before his crime and since.
‘It’s absolutely disgraceful. We had to have our statements in months ago, so why didn’t they make sure they had theirs?
‘We have been told it will resume on May 16 and a decision will be made two weeks after that, which will take us to May 30, which is the date of my daughter’s birthday.’
Austin, 53, is due for release after being given a 20-year tariff for killing his 31-year-old wife along with their daughter Jade, seven, and son Keiren, eight. He also bludgeoned the family’s two pet poodles to death as he carried out the murders on July 10, 2000.
Carol, 74, and husband Harry, 76, from Bugbrooke, Northamptonshire, discovered the bodies at the family’s home in Standens Barn, Northampton, after the children failed to attend school.
Austin subsequently pleaded guilty to the murders at court and was given three concurrent life sentences with a minimum of 20 years in March 2001.
At a hearing two years ago, the Parole Board decided he was not eligible for release and also turned down his request for a move to an open prison.
The latest hearing, which took place on February 27, came after Carol told Metro.co.uk how the review process had filled her with a ‘terrible dread’ and she believes Austin will kill again if released.
She further questions why her family had to travel to HMP Warren Hill, a Category C prison in Suffolk where he is being held.
The closed jail aims to support some of the most serious offenders in England and Wales into open conditions or release into the community.
‘All we have been told is the reports concern his behaviour before and since,’ Carol said. ‘But he had never been in any trouble before, so I don’t know what they are looking at there. Two years ago there was a hearing, so they must have had the reports then. The Parole Board should have had everything there with them, it’s disgraceful.
‘From what we understand if the next hearing does not take place within three months they have to start from scratch again, so they have set a date a couple of weeks short of the limit.
‘When the hearings do go ahead, we are the ones having to travel to where he is, rather than him being brought to us. We are the victims, yet this is how we are being treated.’
Under UK law, a life sentence must be imposed for murder but this can mean the convicted person being released ‘on licence’.
Only whole life orders prevent an offender from ever being released, except in ‘exceptional compassionate circumstances’.
At parole hearings, an independent board listens to personal statements from victims and their families but ‘makes its decisions by assessing how risky or dangerous the offender is now’, according to the government.
The family has launched a Change.org petition calling for life to mean life, expressing their fears that if Austin is released at a relatively young age he will meet another woman and ‘repeat his murderous actions’.
The campaign, also intended for other families in the same situation, has attracted more than 14,000 signatures so far.
Meanwhile, the family faces the prospects of another hearing and Austin potentially being released into the community.
‘I came off anti-depressants 10 years ago and I’ve had to go back on them again, that is how much this has affected me,’ Carol said.
‘My husband is very ill and it’s really affected my son. His wife cried constantly in the week leading up to the parole hearing.
‘It’s affected every one of us. We are all disgusted by this, we have been left with no faith in the British justice system.’
The Parole Board told Metro.co.uk it cannot comment on individual cases.
A spokesperson said: ‘A panel may adjourn a parole hearing to ensure a comprehensive risk assessment can take place.
‘There are a number of situations where an adjournment may be required, for example more information is required, the prisoner needs more time to complete a course, a witness is not available, or for some other unavoidable reason. The Parole Board does everything it can to avoid these delays.
‘The panel will carefully examine a whole range of evidence, including details of the original crime, and any evidence of behaviour change, as well as understand the harm done and impact the crime has had on the victims.
‘Parole reviews are undertaken thoroughly and with extreme care. Protecting the public is our number one priority.’
The Ministry of Justice maintains that the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Court Act (2022) ensures the most serious offenders now face longer behind bars, with whole life orders being the starting point for the premeditated murder of a child.
A spokesperson said previously: ‘Offenders serving life sentences must satisfy the Parole Board that they do not pose a risk to the public before being released from prison.
‘Those who are eventually released face strict licence conditions and can be returned to prison if they breach them.
‘We have also changed the law to make sure the most serious and violent offenders face longer behind bars.’