UK NEWS

NEWLOVE WIDOW TELLS MPS TO 'GET TOUGH' ON YOBS

Helen Newlove speaking to MPs today

Tuesday April 22,2008

By Emily Garnham for express.co.uk

THE WIDOW of murdered father-of-three Garry Newlove told MPs today that no excuses should be made for youngsters who commit violent crimes.

Helen Newlove, who saw her 47-year-old husband kicked to death by a gang of drunk teenage yobs last year, said "having nothing to do" was not a valid excuse for youngsters to get involved in crime.

She said an effort needed to be made to "strengthen social values."

Speaking at a Home Affairs Committee on Policing in the 21st Century, Mrs Newlove also called for more visible policing in the battle against Britain’s yob culture.

She also attacked the courts system, branding the way victims' families are treated as "utterly disgraceful".

Garry Newlove was viciously attacked in front of his family when he confronted them outside his house in Cheshire. He died of his injuries two days later.

Mrs Newlove and her daughters - Zoe, 18, Danielle, 15, and Amy, 14 - have since moved away from the family home in Warrington, because they struggled to cope with flashbacks of the murder.

But Mr Newlove's widow has been back to the area and noticed a higher police presence but she says it's too little, too late.

“There is visibility, but it is a case of the horse has already bolted," she said.

“Children see the police, they run off, come back - and it has got steadily worse for three or four years.”

She argued against the closure of local police stations, telling MPs: “You cannot have a central police station with people bogged down with paperwork. You have to have somebody in the community.”

Mrs Newlove is also calling for an improved DNA database and “punishment to fit the crime”.

She explained that smaller scale crimes can spiral into more serious, potentially life-threatening situations if they are not stamped upon.

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