Murderer Jeffrey Gafoor has parole hearing
South Wales Police/PA Media
Lynette White was murdered in a flat in Cardiff’s docklands in 1988
A murderer at the centre of one of Wales’ most notorious killings will make his case to be freed from prison later.
Lynette White was stabbed more than 50 times and had her throat slit in a Cardiff docklands flat on Valentine’s Day 1988, but Jeffrey Gafoor was not jailed until 2003.
Instead, in 1990, Stephen Miller, Yusef Abdullahi and Tony Paris were jailed for life for the 20-year-old’s murder in what was deemed to be a gross miscarriage of justice.
Thursday’s parole hearing – which will be held in private – will be Gafoor’s sixth, but the decision may not be made for up to 14 days.
When he was jailed in 2003, Gafoor was ordered to serve a minimum of 13 years after confessing to stabbing Ms White – a sex worker – in a row over £30.
He was granted day release in January 2023.
After Ms White’s murder, detectives investigating the case said they were hunting a white suspect.
Instead, five black and mixed-race men were arrested and charged with murder before their convictions were quashed by the Court of Appeal.
Gafoor was not caught until there were advances in DNA technology.
Media Wales
Jeffrey Gafoor was only jailed 15 years after he had murdered Lynette White
When are parole hearings held in public?
Victims, prisoners, members of the public and the media have all been able to apply for public parole hearings after changes in the law in 2022.
In deciding whether to grant a public hearing, the parole board takes into account the wishes of the victims, any risk of trauma to the victims or their families, any risks of safety to the prisoner and whether witness evidence would be affected.
#Murderer #Jeffrey #Gafoor #parole #hearing