Wesley Neailey's mum's relief as son's killer refused prison release
Dominic McKilligan was jailed for life for killing Arthur's Hill schoolboy in 1998
by Sophie Doughty · ChronicleLiveThe mum of murdered schoolboy Wesley Neailey has told of her relief after his killer's bid to be freed from prison failed.
Dominic McKilligan was jailed for life for murdering 11-year-old Wesley, who vanished after going out on his bike in Newcastle in 1998. The paedophile's fourth application for parole was heard by a panel of the Parole Board last month. But after hearing how McKilligan continued to maintain his innocence over the murder, the panel decided his release would be too risky.
The panel also refused to recommend that McKilligan be moved to a lower security open prison.
Wesley's mum Liz, who had been terrified by the prospect of her son's killer's release was given the news this morning. And she has now told the Chronicle of her relief.
The 59-year-old said: "I'm over the moon. It was just a massive sigh of relief. He's never talked about it, he's never said 'sorry' That makes him still very dangerous. If he got out he could do it again. It's good news he is going to stay where he belongs."
Wesley disappeared after leaving his home, on Croydon Road in Arthur’s Hill, Newcastle, on June 5, 1998. At first Liz thought her son might have just met up with some friends and lost track of time. But as darkness fell Liz began to fear the worst.
Wesley was initially treated as a missing person by police and Newcastle's West End community, who knew the schoolboy well, came together to search for him. Posters were put up in the windows of homes and shops as our sister paper, the Sunday Sun, staged a reconstruction of Wesley’s last movements. But it would later be revealed that all efforts were in vain, as Wesley was dead within hours of disappearing.
Detectives began to focus their attentions on McKilligan, an 18-year-old convicted sex offender from Bournemouth who had been housed in Newcastle after being held at Aycliffe Young People’s Centre in Durham. When officers searched his flat on Fenham’s Wingrove Road they found a torn up cheque for £150 made out to Wesley. Four weeks after Wesley vanished McKilligan took police to a remote spot in Healey, in the Tyne Valley, where he had dumped Wesley’s body.
A jury at Newcastle Crown Court found McKilligan, then 18, guilty of murder and rape at the end of a three-week trial. He was jailed for life with a minimum of 20 years. However, McKilligan later successfully appealed his rape conviction meaning he will not be on the sex offenders register if he is released.
A summary of the hearing explains how it had been difficult to assess whether McKilligan would reoffend because of the fact that he refused to accept that he had murdered Wesley.
"Having considered the index offences, relevant patterns of previous offending and the other evidence before it, the panel explored the risk factors or those influences which made it more likely that Mr McKilligan would reoffend," it says. "These were difficult to pinpoint as Mr McKilligan had maintained his innocence of murder, though he accepted he had caused his victim’s death. Nor had Mr McKilligan completed accredited programmes which might have shed light on his motives and triggers for this offence."
The hearing heard how McKilligan’s behaviour in prison had been "generally good" and how he had supported other inmates while acting as an education mentor. And after considering a proposed release plan, the panel concluded that it was "not yet robust enough to safely manage Mr McKilligan’s risks in the community."
A spokesman for the Parole Board said: "We can confirm that a panel of the Parole Board refused the release of Dominic McKilligan following an oral hearing. The panel also refused to recommend a move to open prison. Parole Board decisions are solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public if released and whether that risk is manageable in the community.
“A panel will carefully examine a huge range of evidence, including details of the original crime, and any evidence of behaviour change, as well as explore the harm done and impact the crime has had on the victims. Members read and digest hundreds of pages of evidence and reports in the lead up to an oral hearing. Evidence from witnesses such as probation officers, psychiatrists and psychologists, officials supervising the offender in prison as well as victim personal statements may be given at the hearing.
"It is standard for the prisoner and witnesses to be questioned at length during the hearing which often lasts a full day or more. Parole reviews are undertaken thoroughly and with extreme care. Protecting the public is our number one priority."
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