Anger as Jean Bellis' 'remorseless' killer Peter Hastings released on parole

Jean Bellis, pictured with her grandson two weeks before her death

The daughter of a woman who was stabbed more than a dozen times said she was appalled to discover that her murderer had been released.

Peter Hastings was jailed for life in 1999 for murdering Jean Bellis, 38, in Birmingham six years earlier.

Her daughter, Vanessa Watts, said she had written to the Parole Board asking for him not to be released.

The board said his parole review was "undertaken thoroughly" and confirmed Hastings had been released in July.

Ms Watts, who was 17 when her mother was murdered in April 1993, said Hastings had never shown any remorse and the family still did not know the exact date on which Ms Bellis had died.

"He's the only one with that information," she said. "He's shown no remorse, no explanation... he's still denying that he even killed my mother."

As a condition to his parole, Hastings has been banned from visiting Ms Bellis' grave

She said her mother was stabbed more than 20 times at her home in Kingstanding and was left to bleed to death for up to 48 hours, her body laying undiscovered for a week.

"It hurts me and my sister to think she was alone in that house, dying," Ms Watts said.

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Hastings, now 52, evaded justice for six years and was only charged when advances in DNA technology enabled police to link him to the crime scene through a spot of Ms Bellis's blood preserved under the polish on his shoe.

He was jailed for life and ordered to serve a minimum term of 17 years. However, his bid to be released was twice turned down by the Parole Board, meaning he has spent an additional five years in prison.

Ms Watts, who now lives in Darlington, said she felt "sick to my stomach" when she heard Mr Hastings was to be released and said it should never have happened.

Peter Hastings was jailed for murder in 1999

She said it was a "massive slap in the face".

"I've been having nightmares since I found this out," she said, adding that her sister, who still lives in Birmingham, was "frightened to death".

"I feel powerless," she said. "It doesn't feel like justice."