‘Welcome back to The Daily Talk Show with Jeremy Williams. Today we’re having our annual – and, traditionally, rather contentious – New Year’s debate. This time we’re talking about justice, about sentencing, and about the application by notorious Flower Girl Laurel Bowman to challenge the recent decision of the parole board to keep her incarcerated. This is, I believe, the third application of hers to be released, which has – like the two previous – been denied.
‘She has never explained her actions at the time of Kirstie Swann’s murder. She has always remained silent as to what actually happened on that day. Nothing about this application will be of any comfort to Kirstie’s parents, Debbie and Rob, I’m sure. But what it does do is raise the possibility that – perhaps – Laurel Bowman has served her time and should be set free.
‘With me in the studio is Joanna Denton from the non-governmental organisation Bang to Rights and full-time campaigner for Justice for Kirstie. As Debbie Swann’s sister, Joanna was also, tragically, the aunt of little Kirstie.
‘Joanna, firstly, I must ask how you and the family have coped over the years with the impact of this terrible crime? How does your sister Debbie carry on, day after day? And particularly given all of the media interest in Laurel Bowman and the Flower Girls.’
‘Thanks, Jeremy. And thank you for having me on the show. I want to say that Debbie is an incredibly strong woman. She’s had to be. Everyone in our family – including and especially her – has learnt that the only way we will get justice for Kirstie is – not to forget our emotions, we could never do that – but to put them to one side, so that we can fight for our daughter and niece and ensure that Laurel Bowman can never prey on anyone else.’
‘I see. And so what is your view on this argument on Laurel Bowman’s behalf that the parole board are wrong to deny her release and an eighteen-year prison term is more than enough to have served? Particularly given that Laurel was only ten years old when she was first sent to prison. Isn’t that enough?’
‘No.’ Joanna is adamant. ‘It’s not. Laurel Bowman is a murderer, and a person who takes the life of another human being should have to live out the rest of her days in prison. If you consider other child murderers with the same profile – Ian Brady, Ian Huntley, Myra Hindley – these individuals were all given life sentences that actually meant life. Why should Laurel Bowman be any different just because she was a child when she was convicted? Debbie and Rob are the ones who are serving the true life sentence. They have to live every day for the rest of their lives with the fact that their daughter was taken from them in the most horrific and brutal way. That’s a life sentence. If Laurel Bowman is released now, it would be a joke.’
‘I see your point,’ Jeremy counters into the microphone. ‘But some would say that when the crime was committed, Laurel’s life effectively ended at that point. She’s had her freedom curtailed for eighteen years. Isn’t it preferable for society that she now contributes to it? That she’s rehabilitated and joins us as a better person, rather than draining our taxes. What purpose does it serve, locking her up for the rest of her life?’
‘She’s not rehabilitated,’ Joanna points out sharply. ‘She’s been refused parole on her last three applications. She gets into fights, she’s aggressive. She’s beyond the pale, Jeremy. She’s never apologised, much less admitted what she’s done. And, frankly, I don’t want a person like that walking down my local high street. I’d rather keep her where I know she can’t hurt innocent people, in a place where she can be controlled.’
‘OK, some strong points there. Thanks, Joanna. Obviously a tough issue. So, we’re going to open this up to the phone lines. And I’ve got Derek from Sanderstead on the phone. Derek, what’s your view on all of this?’
‘Hi, Jeremy. Well, I think she should have been hung from the start.’
Jeremy raises his eyebrows at Joanna, who remains impassive. ‘You’d have had Laurel Bowman hanged at ten years old?’ he says.
‘No,’ Derek says. ‘I’d have had her in prison and then hanged when she was old enough to understand properly what she’d done.’
‘Thanks, Derek. Joanna, do you agree with that? Is the death penalty the only appropriate punishment for crimes of this kind?’
‘I’m not going to discuss that here, Jeremy. A debate on the death penalty is a matter for a different forum. I’m here to talk specifically about Laurel Bowman and whether the time she serves in prison can ever make up for the terrible murder she committed.’
‘OK. But it’s obviously an emotive subject. Crimes involving children tug at our very heartstrings. Do you think that that should necessarily affect our attitudes to punishment and the rational way in which we deal with criminals and their crimes?’
‘Again, Jeremy, I’m not here to discuss crime and punishment in general. It is my view, and that of many, many other people, that Laurel Bowman has not been adequately punished for her culpability in Kirstie’s brutal murder. My niece was two years old. Kirstie didn’t get to live her life because of Laurel. She was horribly abused by her. She suffered beyond anything we can imagine. To put the perpetrator of that horror in a comfortable environment where she is cosseted, given a television, an iPad, an education, a swimming pool . . . All of those opportunities were denied to Kirstie. She is dead. Taken from all of us before she could live her life.’
‘So what would be the appropriate punishment then? Let’s move back to the phones. And I’ve got Carol from Leeds on the line. Carol, what’s your view on what Joanna is saying? Do you agree that Laurel Bowman has been punished adequately?’
‘No, I don’t, Jeremy. I lived in Grassington when poor little Kirstie was killed and I can tell you that we will never forget it. We were there, Joanna. I don’t know if you remember us? But I was so sorry for you all. We will never forget that poor lass or Debbie and Rob. We pray for them every day.
‘The Bowman girl is evil. She is wicked and vile and she should never be allowed to leave prison. What she did to that poor little child . . . I can’t even bear to think about it. We hunted for Kirstie when she went missing, the whole town did. We were out until midnight that night. It was heart-breaking. And to think that Laurel Bowman will be out and allowed to go and live amongst us makes my heart grow cold, it really does. I don’t care what some stupid people say about it. She is wicked through and through and I agree with your last caller. She should have been hanged.’
‘Thanks, Carol. Obviously you feel very passionately about this. So you were there when Kirstie went missing? What was that like? It must have been dreadful.’
‘Oh, it was, Jeremy. At first, we just thought she’d wandered off, you know. Maybe tripped over. Fallen asleep and woken up in the dark and couldn’t find her way home. But then time went on and you started to think, well, it doesn’t look good. It’s probably some paedo or weirdo. I couldn’t bear to think about it too much myself. But then …’
‘Joanna, you’re nodding at this. Do you want to jump in?’
‘Yes . . . hello, Carol. The reason we all feel so strongly about this is that Kirstie wasn’t taken by a weirdo, as you put it. She wasn’t taken by a sad old man. She was taken by a child. A child.’ Joanna pauses briefly. ‘And what makes a child do that? Lure a toddler away from her mother, lead her away, keep her hidden for hours and then subject her to systematic beating . . . lacerations . . . torture. The pathologist had to use Kirstie’s dental records to identify her, she had been beaten so badly. What does it take for a ten year old to do that? What does it take?’
‘Evil,’ Carol says. ‘Pure evil.’