Ringleader of teenage gang that brutally murdered Garry Newlove in attack outside his home could be freed in weeks after 17 years behind bars

The ringleader of a teenage gang that brutally murdered Garry Newlove outside his home could be freed next month.

Mr Newlove, 47, was kicked to death in front of his daughters after he caught a group of teenagers vandalising his wifes car in Warrington, Cheshire.

His widow, Baroness Helen, has spent the last 17 years campaigning for victims to be taken more seriously when it comes to anti-social behaviour.

Adam Swellings, 19, Stephen Sorton, 17, and Jordan Cunliffe, 16, ganged up on the father in 2007 when they were drunk and high on cannabis.

They all got life in prison, with recommended terms of 17, 15 and 12 years. But the youngest two are already walking free and Swellings, now 35, will appear before a parole board in a few weeks.

Garry Newlove was brutally murdered outside his home in front of his daughter in 2007

Ringleader Adam Swellings, then 19 and now 35, could be freed in next month

Mr Newloves widow Helen was made a peer in 2010 following her campaign work on youth crime and served as the Victims Commissioner from 2012 to 2019

Mr Newloves family are devastated, according to The Sun, and believe Swellings should stay in prison because he was the ringleader.

Two years ago, the Parole Board cleared him for a move to open prison conditions but the decision was blocked by the Justice Secretary at the time, Dominic Raab.

The attack shocked the nation, as the young killers punched the father repeatedly and kicked his head like a football.

The brutal assault was witnessed by Mr Newloves daughter Amy, while his wife Helen found him with the bloody imprint of a trainer on his head.

The court heard that the three renowned troublemakers were regularly seen drinking, vandalising cars and property, and intimidating anyone who dared to confront them. 

The sales manager, who had survived stomach cancer when he was 32, died three days after the incident having never regained consciousness and left behind his wife and three children, Amy, Danielle and Zoe - who were 12, 15 and 18.

Mr Newloves tragic death stunned the nation and became a symbol for Broken Britain.

His widow Helen was made a peer in 2010 following her campaign work on youth crime and served as the Victims Commissioner from 2012 to 2019.

It was found that ringleader Swellings had only been released on bail just hours before the attack took place for a similar assault, and flouted a court order banning him from Warrington.

Passers-by look at flowers left in Warrington where Mr Newlove died

Jordan Cunliffe, one of the killers, has already been paroled

Stephen Paul Sorton, was just 17 when he participated in the attack on the father 17 years ago

Two other teenage boys were acquitted of all charges.

The transfer of Cunliffe to open prison in 2020 sparked controversy when the Parole Board approved the move and he hosted a drunken party in his cell to celebrate his upcoming freedom.

This prompted the then Justice Secretary Robert Buckland to declare there was not a wholly acceptable rationale for this move and Cunliffe was ordered to remain in a closed prison until his next parole hearing.

He was eventually paroled in September that year, but the Secretary of State appealed the decision, something that was dismissed by the courts.

When Cuncliffe had his hearing, the Baroness told the Mail: It feels like an insult and a mockery for the Parole Board to allow Cunliffe to return to Warrington and not even consider the impact on us, his victims. My daughters are terrified of bumping into one of the men who took their father away from them.

The mental scars from seeing their father kicked to death on our doorstep have never fully healed, and now those scars have been ripped open. My girls are in pieces. Yet again, we are made to feel Garrys life wasnt worth anything.

As a mother, even though my daughters are now young women, I want to wrap them in cotton wool and protect them — and I am absolutely livid that I cant.

There are people who will think that, because I was Victims Commissioner, Id get gold-star treatment from our criminal justice system. Well, I can categorically say that I havent.

MailOnline has contacted the Parole Board for comment.