Garry Newlove killer Jordan Cunliffe to be released

Jordan Cunliffe was jailed in 2008 for the murder of Garry Newlove

A murderer who kicked a man to death near his home will be freed after the Parole Board dismissed a bid to keep him in jail.

Jordan Cunliffe was 16 when he was jailed for killing Garry Newlove in Warrington, Cheshire, in 2007.

The justice secretary challenged the parole decision for Cunliffe, 29, after a suspected party in his cell.

But a panel reconsidering the September decision ruled it was no longer necessary for Cunliffe to stay in jail.

The Parole Board did not give a date for his release.

Judge Michael Topolski QC, who reviewed the decision, said he found "no compelling reasons to interfere" with the Parole Board's ruling.

The Parole Board first considered Cunliffe's release at a hearing in December but the decision was reconsidered following a party inside his cell days before Christmas.

Judge Topolski said it was believed "some alcohol" had been consumed, adding: "They were noisy and there was some violence, but it was not suggested that [Cunliffe] was involved in that violence."

Garry Newlove was murdered in 2007

Cunliffe refused to take a breathalyser test and gave "different accounts of what happened", Judge Topolski said.

Justice Secretary Robert Buckland challenged the parole decision, claiming the December incident showed "there was insufficient evidence" Cunliffe was no longer a risk to the public.

But Judge Topolski said the Parole Board had "found it was "no longer necessary for the protection of the public" for Cunliffe to remain in prison.

A Parole Board spokesman said it had "immense sympathy for the families of murder victims" but a senior judge found that the decision of the original panel was a "rational one which was justified by the evidence they considered."

Cunliffe, who is now registered blind, is serving life for his part in the alcohol-fuelled killing of 47-year-old father-of-three Mr Newlove outside his home.

He was one of three teenagers found guilty of murder by at Chester Crown Court in January 2008.

Aged 16 at the time of conviction Cunliffe was sentenced to serve a minimum of 12 years, which expired on 14 August 2019.