My sister was raped & drowned in bath weeks after monster left prison… after 25 years in jail he will strike again
A HEARTBROKEN sister has made a last-ditch plea to keep a rapist killer behind bars, warning: “He will strike again”.
Sex beast Michael Wade attacked and raped Good Samaritan mum Jean Whitfield before drowning her in a bathtub.
The kind-hearted 42-year-old was brutally murdered in her flat after allowing drifter Wade into her home 25 years ago.
The remorseless brute was locked up for life and told to serve a minimum of 20 years behind bars over his sickening crimes.
But parole board chiefs have decided he is now safe to be released back into society – to the fury of his victim’s family.
Sister Joan, 62, said: “He took Jean’s life and he has ruined mine – and now they want to give him a second chance?
“He’s a monster – he should never see the light of day.
“This man didn’t just take my sister’s life, he shattered mine, too.
“For years, I’ve lived with the trauma of what he did to her, and the thought of him being out in the world again is sickening. How can they put someone like him back into society?
“It’s a betrayal – not just for Jean but for all women and girls. What’s the point in a life sentence if they don’t get life.
“The parole board says he’s fine now because he’s done a couple of courses in prison. But whoop-de-do, what does that prove?
“Leopards don’t change their own spots. He’s a monster who will kill again.
Weighing just seven stone and plagued by arthritis, vulnerable Jean did not stand a chance when Wade targeted her at her flat in Gateshead, near Newcastle, just months after being released from prison for another violent attack.
When her partner Dennis Fallon went to work on August 5, 1999, Wade subjected his victim to unspeakable brutality.
After beating and raping Jean, he drowned her in her bath – with Mr Fallon later discovering her lifeless body underwater.
Sentencing
Merciless Wade denied rape and murder but a jury at Teesside Crown Court found him guilty following a trial.
At his sentencing, the court heard details of his shocking criminal record – including a string of convictions for violent and sexual offences.
Parole bosses last month approved Wade’s fourth application for release, meaning he could be back on the streets early next year.
They said the killer – described as once having had “negative attitudes to women” – had completed programmes to address his sexual offending and alcohol problems in prison.
Leopards don’t change their own spots. He’s a monster who will kill again
Joan Robinson
But Joan, a pub landlady, said the decision had left her sickened.
She said: “I feel that the whole system has let my sister down.
“Jean didn’t ask to be beaten, raped and murdered. He knew exactly what he was doing.
“It wasn’t as if it was an accident. He went back afterwards – not to try and help, but to make sure she was dead.
“That’s how callous he is.
“The parole board says he’s fine to come out because he’s had some counselling.
“But there are no women in prison for him to rape, there’s no booze in prison for him to drink. He hasn’t had those temptations for years.
“But when he’s out on the streets, free, he’ll be like a kid in a sweet shop.
“How can the parole board possibly guarantee 100% that he won’t do this again? They can’t.
“I’ve always said ‘would any of those people on the parole board have him stay in their house for a couple of nights, alone?’
“I bet not one of them would, knowing what he is capable of.
“Prison behaviour doesn’t mean anything – he’s locked away. He’s never going to be safe around other people.”
Prolonged trauma
Joan has penned a letter to the parole board in a desperate attempt to halt Wade’s release, revealing how the trauma of her sister’s murder led her to think about taking her own life.
She added: “I’ve put him in a box for years and put the lid on. But when I got the message to say he’s coming out, the lid’s come flying off.
“I used to have nightmares about him turning up on my doorstep, that’s all come flooding back again.
“The thought of him doing it to someone else, and ruining somebody else’s life, is unbearable.
“The only time I will get closure is when he is in a box and he can’t hurt anybody else.
“I can’t get my head around how they can let this man out.
When he’s out on the streets, free, he’ll be like a kid in a sweet shop.
Joan Robinson
“Every time the parole board ring, I ask them if he’s dead.
“He deserved the death penalty and I would push the button myself because he’s tortured me for the last 25 years.
“I still have nightmares about what my sister would have gone through. She must have known that she was going to die.
“I’ve been struggling to deal with it and I really don’t want anyone else to go through what I have. I can’t sleep at night knowing he will be free.”
The Parole Board heard how Wade displayed “anti-social and paranoid behaviour” at the time of Jean’s murder.
Wade found “intimate relationships” difficult and “bore grudges, had a low tolerance for frustration and would be quick to show aggression and anger”.
Wade’s release
All the professional witnesses who gave evidence to the panel recommended that Wade be released.
A hearing summary concludes: “The panel considered the circumstances of his offending, the progress made while in custody and the evidence presented.
“The panel was satisfied that imprisonment was no longer necessary for the protection of the public.”
Joan is urging women to be vigilant should Wade be freed.
She added: “The system has failed Jean, it’s failed me and it’s failing everyone who’s ever lost someone to violence.
“He might turn up in a pub and start talking to a woman, and they’ll have no idea about who he is and what he has done, and what he is capable of.
I can’t sleep at night knowing he will be free
Joan Robinson
“He doesn’t come with a tag on him saying ‘by the way, I’m a convicted rapist and a murderer.
“I just want people to be aware of him and make sure his picture is plastered everywhere.
“I’ve been to see an up-to-date picture of him in Gateshead prison because I wanted to know what he looks like now, in case he rocks up.
“I was hoping he would look frail but sadly he looks as fit as a fiddle.
“There are big campaigns about ensuring women feel safe on the streets. But how can they be, if monsters like him are being let out?”