Russell Causley's grandson reacts to murderer's prison return

Causley was handed a life sentence for killing his wife Carole Packman after she disappeared in 1985 – a year a year after he moved his lover into their home in Bournemouth, Dorset.

He was convicted of murder in 1996 before the conviction was quashed in 2003. A retrial the following year found him guilty again and he was jailed for life.

Causley, now in his late 70s, was released from prison on licence last year after initially evading justice for the best part of a decade following her disappearance by faking his own death as part of an insurance scam.

Murderer Russell Causley. Picture: Al Stewart

The offender, who has never revealed the whereabouts of his wife's body, was taken back into custody on Saturday for breaching standard licence conditions.

• Read more: Russell Causley back in jail for breaching licence conditions

However, Ms Packman’s grandson Neil Gillingham told the Daily Echo that officers will not disclose to the family what conditions Causley breached and says the Parole Board is “not fit for purpose”.

He said: “Once again our lives have been turned upside down. Releasing him in the first place was madness but now we’ll have to go through the whole parole process again. They’ve been left with egg on their face and all we can say is, we told you so.”

After a lifetime of campaigning, Mr Gillingham was diagnosed with a form of complex PTSD last year. He said he was starting to get better before his grandfather was released. He said: “My mental resilience has taken a battering. How can I be a good father to my son with this dark cloud constantly hanging over head?”

Despite describing the decision to return Causley to prison as “positive”, Mr Gillingham said his first concern when informed of the parole breach was that Causley had hurt someone.

He said: “On October 13 we received a letter from our victim liaison officer who informed us that Russell remained compliant and they’d give us an update in a year. Then a few weeks later he’s been put back in jail. What did he do?

Russell Causley with Carole Packman and daughter, Samantha

“You can’t say all is good and then soon after he gets rearrested. It must’ve been a serious breach because they don’t just recall people for turning up five minutes late to a meeting or something like that. Recalling is a last resort, not the first.

“I did ask straight away whether he hurt anyone and was told he hadn’t which was a relief.

“The parole board is not fit for purpose in any shape or form. The amount of ineptitude frustrates me. We've seen this with Colin Pitchfork, John Worboys and now Russell, it's just failure after failure.”

It has been confirmed Causley failed to attend or engage with his probation supervision and was not back behind bars amid concerns he had committed any more crimes.

A Probation Service spokesman said: “Protecting the public is our number one priority so when offenders breach the conditions of their release and potentially pose an increased risk, we don’t hesitate to return them to custody.”

Carole Packman

Mr Gillingham, 32, added: “He’s a threat to society. I suspect because of his behaviour we’ll most likely be having to deal with more and more hearings. That’ll be our lives, no rest.

“He’s a deviant, horrible little man and I don’t care if he’s in prison or a mental hospital, we just want him off the streets.

“I’m not victim of murder, I’m a victim of a murderer and he’s plagued me my entire life.

“With my mum, she’s fearful he’ll die and take his secrets to grave. I have to accept that you can’t change that but I can try to influence whether someone lets him out of prison again.

“I want him to die in prison. This isn’t about retribution, this is about getting on with my life, about getting peace.

“One thing is for sure though, my grandmother will not lose her voice.”