Birmingham mum: 'My son's killer should have been in jail - authorities have blood on their hands'

A grieving mum from Birmingham says her son’s killer should have still been locked up - and slammed the authorities for having "blood on their hands".

Donna Powell has demanded answers as to why Robert Goodwin was able to roam the streets freely and murder her son, Shane Thompson, 32, in December 2021.

Shane, a dad-of-one, had given Goodwin a job when he was released from prison, but was stabbed when the pair went back to Shane’s house following a drink at a pub. Goodwin was found guilty of Shane's murder and sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 22 years in April last year.

But Donna, a retired school cook from Northfield, is asking why Goodwin was free to commit the murder given he was supposed to be serving a 41 month custodial sentence. Goodwin had been jailed for a robbery in December 2018 that left his victim "unconscious" and had later reportedly violated the conditions of his parole several times before murdering Shane.

Donna also claimed he had not met the required conditions for parole - so should have still been behind bars when her son was killed. She has now accused both the parole board and the probation service of “not doing their job” and said she’d be willing to “stand outside Parliament” to get justice for her son.

Goodwin had been released just nine days before committing the murder. Donna said: "I blame them for my son's death. Because if they had done their job, he would still be alive. They have my son's blood on their hands.

"I have no faith in the authorities. It’s complete waste of time having them if they let people out to murder. If I worked for the Parole Board, there is no way I would have let this man out of prison.

“need to fight for other families who have been through this.I need the government to realise that parole is not working. If I’ve got to stand outside Parliament I will do it.

"They don’t do their job. They don’t do their due diligence.” In January 2021, while on licence, Robert Goodwin allegedly tried to stab a fellow resident and hit him over the head with a piece of wood. He was wanted in connection with an offence of Grievous Bodily Harm (GBH) as a result and a standard recall was issued on 5 March 2021.

Goodwin was unlawfully at large until 26 March 2021 when he was returned to custody. But after the GBH charges were dropped, Goodwin's offender manager recommended he could be released because he was deemed "motivated" to engage with the work required to "manage his risk".

Probation also continued to class Goodwin as "medium risk" despite the alleged stabbing attempt, when high risk was appropriate - Donna's solicitor Corey Smith said.

Goodwin’s behaviour while in custody was also said to be "poor" and he was "aggressive" to prison staff. In October, Goodwin had to be segregated for breaking prison rules.

Despite this, in November, the Parole Board decided to release Goodwin on the basis that his risk to the public and immediacy of harm had not increased. On the system that the board was using to assess that risk, Donna said there was no acknowledgement of the alleged stabbing attempt, nor other instances of aggressive behaviour to prison and medical staff.

Goodwin was released on 25 November that year on the condition that several requirements were met, none of which were, Mr Smith added. It meant that in early December, he was able to meet Shane who was then working as a builder, offering him a job because he felt sorry for him.

Donna added: "My son was building up his business at that time and Shane gave him a job." On 4 December, the pair went for a drink and returned to Shane’s house. "We don’t know what went on in the house," Donna said. Later that evening, Shane’s girlfriend returned to find her boyfriend lying in a pool of blood on her bed with several stab wounds.

“A knife had gone straight through my son’s arms and legs with some force. But it was the wound to his heart that was the one that killed him."

Donna said the whole family are still struggling with his loss. She added: “Some days we don’t want to get out of bed. Shane’s brother has not been able to go to work. Nobody will employ me. I breakdown in job interviews.

“I was a school cook for 23 years. We were going to retire and move to Spain." A Parole Board spokesperson said: “Every serious further offence is a tragedy in which victims and their families’ lives are affected forever.

"Whilst these represent a tiny proportion of cases considered, one case is one tragedy too many and we take these extremely seriously. Where this happens, the Parole Board is committed to doing everything it can to learn the lessons that will help to prevent further tragedies.

“The Board has a dedicated review process led by the Review Committee which closely examines and scrutinises any parole release decision after a serious further offence. This process involves outside experts, judges, psychologists, psychiatrists as well as senior management and is in place to identify any lessons that could be learnt.

“Prisoners directed for release by the Board are released on licence to be managed in the community by the Probation Service. The Probation Service are able to recall an offender to custody at any point if their behaviour causes concern.”

A Probation Service spokesperson added: “This was an awful crime and we continue to offer our sincere apologies to the family of Shane Thompson.

“We have since taken important steps to address the issues identified, including new mandatory training and strengthened quality checks for risk assessments.We are also providing extra funding of more than £155 million a year into the Probation Service to deliver the robust supervision required to keep the public safe.”