A killer who went unpunished for 15 years now wants to be released from prison

Jeffrey Gafoor, who murdered Cardiff prostitute Lynette White in one of Wales' most notorious killings, has a hearing with the Parole Board

One of Wales' most notorious killers is making a bid for freedom from prison. Jeffrey Gafoor was given a life sentence in 2003 and ordered to serve a minimum of 13 years for the 1988 Valentine's Day murder of Lynette White.

The Cardiff prostitute'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.

Gafoor will be making a bid for freedom at a parole hearing on Thursday. It will be held in private and is his sixth bid.

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In 1990 Stephen Miller, Tony Paris, Yusef Abdullahi were wrongly jailed for life after being found guilty of her murder. But the trio, who became known as the Cardiff Three, were freed after an appeal found police had "bullied" a confession from one of the men.

Ten years later DNA identified Gafoor as a suspect for Miss 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.

Gafoor 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 our free daily briefing on the biggest issues affecting the nation, sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here

A document after that hearing stated: "After considering the circumstances of his offending, the progress made while in custody, and the other evidence presented in the dossier, the panel was not satisfied that Mr Gafoor was suitable for release.

"However, on assessing the benefits and risks of Mr Gafoor remaining in open conditions, the panel recommended that he should do so. He had made considerable efforts to address his areas of risk and had demonstrated steady progress.

"It is now for the Secretary of State to decide whether he accepts the Parole Board's recommendation. Mr Gafoor will be eligible for another parole review in due course."

Following the false imprisonment of the Cardiff Three, an investigation of the original police inquiry was launched, culminating in a trial of eight former detectives and two civilians on charges of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

The trial collapsed in December 2011 after it emerged that documents had not been disclosed by the prosecution to the defence.

A second trial, involving another four retired police officers, was abandoned with all charges dropped. It was described at the time as the biggest corruption trial of its kind in UK criminal history.

In total one million pages of documents were compiled for the trial, leading a police spokeswoman to describe the case as “maybe the most complicated ever undertaken” by South Wales Police.