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Parole hearing planned for Michael Sams, who killed Julie Dart and kidnapped Stephanie Slater, keeping her captive in Newark




Murderer and kidnapper Michael Sams is set for a parole hearing next month as he seeks freedom after 30 years behind bars.

Sams, who lived in Sutton-on-Trent, was given four life sentences in 1993 for the murder of Julie Dart and the kidnapping of estate agent Stephanie Slater.

Now aged in his 80s, he is due his latest parole hearing next month.

Michael Sams (61014506)
Michael Sams (61014506)

A Parole Board spokesman said: "An oral hearing has been listed for the parole review of Michael Sams and is scheduled to take place in March 2023.

"Parole Board decisions are solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public if released and whether that risk is manageable in the community.

"A panel will carefully examine a huge range of evidence, including details of the original crime, and any evidence of behaviour change, as well as explore the harm done and impact the crime has had on the victims.

"Members read and digest hundreds of pages of evidence and reports in the lead up to an oral hearing.

"Evidence from witnesses including probation officers, psychiatrists and psychologists, officials supervising the offender in prison as well as victim personal statements are then given at the hearing.

"The prisoner and witnesses are then questioned at length during the hearing which often lasts a full day or more.

Stephanie Slater (61014514)
Stephanie Slater (61014514)

"Parole reviews are undertaken thoroughly and with extreme care. Protecting the public is our number one priority.”

Sams snatched 18-year-old Julie Dart from Leeds’ Chapeltown red light district on July 9, 1991, and took her to his workshop in the Swan and Salmon yard in Newark.

He demanded £140,000 from her mum but failed to give a drop-off point for the money.

Instead, he killed her after she tried to escape and dumped her body in a field near Grantham.

The following year, in January 1992, he kidnapped estate agent Stephanie Slater after arranging to view a house in Birmingham.

She was also kept in a coffin-like wheelie bin, laid horizontally on the floor, in his Newark workshop, and was told she would be electrocuted if she tried to escape.

She was held for eight days before being released after her company paid the ransom.

He was caught because Stephanie could give an accurate description of him, and an ex-wife recognised his voice ­— recorded when he made his ransom demand ­— when it was played on BBC's Crimewatch programme.

Stephanie Slater died from cancer, aged 50, in 2017.



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