lockness
06-27-2008, 09:34 PM
An "utter failure" in the criminal justice system has been blamed for the brutal sex murder of a young mother as her killer was jailed for life.
Christopher Braithwaite had been bailed over a rape allegation just seven days before killing 23-year-old Stacey Westbury.
In a similar case, it also emerged that a criminal committed a rape after he was freed early from jail. Justice Secretary Jack Straw disclosed that the alleged rapist would have been behind bars if he had not been freed under emergency measures to combat jail overcrowding.
The Old Bailey heard that Miss Westbury's 10-month-old son Kayden lay in his cot at a flat in West Kensington, London, when the crime took place. The tot was discovered alone and crying when the victim's father visited later that day, to find his daughter's bloodied, bruised and naked body on the sofa.
Christopher Braithwaite had been bailed over a rape allegation just seven days before killing 23-year-old Stacey Westbury.
In a similar case, it also emerged that a criminal committed a rape after he was freed early from jail. Justice Secretary Jack Straw disclosed that the alleged rapist would have been behind bars if he had not been freed under emergency measures to combat jail overcrowding.
The Old Bailey heard that Miss Westbury's 10-month-old son Kayden lay in his cot at a flat in West Kensington, London, when the crime took place. The tot was discovered alone and crying when the victim's father visited later that day, to find his daughter's bloodied, bruised and naked body on the sofa.