Victim’s family ‘relief’ at killer George Stephenson’s parole decision

He was jailed for life in October 1987 aged 36 after being convicted alongside two others of murdering four people.

George Stephenson must stay behind bars (Andrew Parsons/PA) (PA Archive)

A woman whose parents and grandparents were murdered in a massacre at a country house dinner party in the 1980s has told of her relief that one of the killers has lost a Parole Board bid to be freed from jail.

George Stephenson was jailed for life in October 1987 aged 36 after being convicted alongside two others of murdering four people, raping a woman and robbery a year earlier in what became known as the Fordingbridge massacre.

The judge recommended a minimum term of 25 years but his tariff was later raised by the then home secretary to 35 years.

According to media reports of the case, Winchester Crown Court heard how handyman Stephenson killed husband and wife Joseph and Hilda Cleaver, both aged 82, their son Tom, 47, and 70-year-old family nurse Margaret Murphy at Burgate House in Hampshire after he and accomplices, brothers John and George Daly, went to the wealthy New Forest estate where he used to work to steal shotguns.

John Daly was also convicted of murdering Tom Cleaver’s 46-year-old wife Wendy, the court reports said.

In a statement on Thursday, Melissa Cleaver said: “We cannot express how relieved we are to learn that George Stephenson’s bid for parole has been refused.

After considering the circumstances of his offending, the progress made while in custody and the evidence presented at the hearing, the panel was not satisfied that release at this point would be safe for the protection of the public

Parole Board

“My mother endured a sadistic, brutal gang rape and indescribable torture before finally being strangled to death.

“My father, grandparents and Maggie were bound, gagged, doused in petrol and set alight, still alive and conscious.

“They lived for several minutes.

“My father, his charred flesh peeling from his body, had dragged himself into an adjacent bathroom in a vain attempt to escape.

“Our beautiful dog was clubbed with a pickaxe so violently that she had to be put down.”

The Parole Board later said: “After considering the circumstances of his offending, the progress made while in custody and the evidence presented at the hearing, the panel was not satisfied that release at this point would be safe for the protection of the public.”

The panel also dismissed Stephenson’s plea to be moved to a lower security jail.

Sentencing Stephenson, the judge reportedly told him the murders were of “indescribable brutality, you showed no mercy and deserve none”.

By the time of the killings, he already had a string of convictions for violence, drugs, deception, burglaries and motoring offences after spending the previous 20 years committing around 70 crimes.

According to the Parole Board, Stephenson told the jury he was not responsible for the crimes and had “acted only as a driver for others who had offended”, maintaining his innocence throughout his sentence.

Now 72, Stephenson first became eligible for parole in 2021 and a hearing took place the following year, with a second last month.

The latest hearing took place after the Parole Board rejected a request for the rest of the proceedings to be heard in public.

According to parole documents, at the time of his crimes Stephenson had “already engaged in quite a lengthy criminal career” and shown a “willingness to use violence and sexual violence” as well as associate with other criminals.

The panel considered him to be “someone who was prepared to take risks”, adding that he “lacked empathy” and “has been seen to have the capacity for manipulation and deception”.

Although no concerns had been raised about his behaviour behind bars since 2001, the parole judges were “not persuaded” a course he took part in to address his violence “had been as effective as had been suggested in written reports” and noted Stephenson had “refused” to complete work he did not feel was “relevant to his needs.”

While some witnesses at the hearing supported his wish to be moved to an open prison, no one believed he was safe to be released, the papers said.

It added: “In its assessment, the panel did not believe that Mr Stephenson’s level of risk had reduced sufficiently to warrant a progressive move. It doubted his likely compliance if he were to be released because Mr Stephenson appeared to consider that after 37 years in prison, his release was a matter of entitlement.”

Ms Cleaver previously called for Stephenson to be denied freedom, telling the Daily Mirror he should die in jail.

Describing him as ringleader in one of the most heinous crimes in history” and branding him a “psychopath”, Ms Cleaver said Stephenson “smirked remorselessly in the dock and his time in prison won’t have resulted in a changed man”.

“If he is ever released we feel it inevitable that something or someone will eventually trigger the violence we’ve seen him capable of,” she added.

Stephenson will be eligible to apply for parole again in another two years’ time, prompting Ms Cleaver to call for a “shake-up” of the criminal justice system.

Offenders are “given greater consideration than victims”, she said, adding: “It shouldn’t be necessary for victims to keep re-visiting the horror of an offender’s crime by repeatedly arguing against parole.”