Like everyone locally, I have huge respect, and great admiration, compassion and sympathy for the family of Collette Gallacher, who was murdered in Corby in harrowing circumstances thirty-five years ago. Following her family coming forward to so bravely tell their story in the Northants Telegraph earlier this week, which you can find, here: https://www.northantstelegraph.co.uk/news/crime/collette-gallacher-murder-the-heartless-monster-who-took-the-life-of-an-innocent-corby-girl-3141825, we have seen, characteristically, an enormous outpouring of kindness and support from our community and I am engaging closely with them to try to help work through their concerns relating to the release of Collette’s killer.
I have already raised this distressing situation formally, and urgently, with both the Home Secretary, and the Lord Chancellor, Robert Buckland, and will continue to do all that I can to support the family and ensure that everything possible is done to keep the public safe and that any lessons around parole from this worrying and concerning case are learnt and appropriate steps taken.
It is absolutely essential that this deeply troubling set of circumstances is looked at very closely to ensure public protection is maintained. I have huge admiration for Collette’s family – what they have been through is simply unimaginable and this is a very distressing time for them. Their selfless anxiety that no other family should ever go through what they have is a moving example to us all and I will help raise their concerns in any way that I can.