Carole Packman murder: New date set for first public parole hearing

Russell Causley married his wife Carole Packman in 1965

A new date has been set for the UK's first public parole hearing after it was postponed over concerns the prisoner's safety was at risk.

Russell Causley, 79, murdered his wife Carole Packman in Bournemouth in 1985 and has always refused to reveal the whereabouts of her body.

The Parole Board said it delayed his hearing in October to ensure proceedings were fair after receiving evidence of a campaign against him.

It will now take place on 12 December.

Russell Causley was freed in 2020 but recalled to prison less than a year later for breaking his licence conditions

Changes in the law allowing hearings to happen in the presence of members of the public and the press were introduced in July.

Parole Board chair Caroline Corby previously revealed Causley tried to argue against his case being heard in public, but she concluded it was "in the interests of justice" to proceed.

Causley was only caught out as a killer eight years after his wife's disappearance.

He had made a botched attempt to fake his own death as part of an elaborate insurance fraud and the subsequent police investigation led officers to evidence of the murder.

Carole Packman disappeared in 1985 aged 40 and her body has never been found

Causley was jailed twice for Mrs Packman's murder - in 1996 and, after a quashed conviction, again in 2004.

He was freed in 2020 after eight years of regular parole hearings but was returned to prison last year after he broke the terms of his licence by failing to check-in with his probation officers.

At the time, Mrs Packman's family said they feared Causley had used his release as an opportunity to visit her body and have since campaigned for him to remain behind bars.