{"id":738305,"date":"2026-08-15T00:40:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-15T00:40:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/738305\/"},"modified":"2026-08-15T00:40:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-15T00:40:16","slug":"glyn-razzell-murderer-who-refused-to-reveal-where-wifes-body-is-for-24-years-to-remain-in-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/738305\/","title":{"rendered":"Glyn Razzell: Murderer who refused to reveal where wife\u2019s body is for 24 years to remain in prison"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Breaking<\/p>\n

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\"Breaking<\/p>\n

Glyn Razzell, who murdered his estranged wife Linda Razzell<\/a> in 2002, will remain in prison<\/a> after the Parole Board\u2019s decision to release him<\/a> on licence was reversed at the High Court<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Razzell was jailed for life<\/a> with a minimum of almost 16 years in 2003 for the murder of Linda Razzell, who disappeared on her way to work at Swindon College, Wiltshire<\/a>, during their divorce proceedings.<\/p>\n

The mother of four\u2019s body has never been found. The Parole Board<\/a> ruled Razzell could be released on licence in April, but the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) referred the decision to the High Court.<\/p>\n

At a hearing earlier this week, barristers for the MoJ said the Parole Board had failed to assess Razzell\u2019s risk properly, and that the decision to free him should be reversed.<\/p>\n

Mrs Razzell\u2019s relatives and loved ones also urged the court to block the release, with her cousin Julie Westmore saying the family \u201cwill not feel safe\u201d and expressing fear that \u201call hope of ever finding Linda\u2019s remains will be lost\u201d if the killer is freed.<\/p>\n

Razzell, who attended the hearing in London, opposed the move, with his barristers telling the court that there was no basis to overturn the decision.<\/p>\n

\"LindaLinda Razzell disappeared on her way to work at Swindon College in Wiltshire in 2002 (Family handout)<\/p>\n

In a ruling on Friday, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb quashed the Parole Board\u2019s decision, stating that she was \u201cnot satisfied that it is no longer necessary for the protection of the public that Glyn Razzell be confined\u201d.<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cI am not persuaded that the risk has diminished to such a level that offender management is capable of keeping the public safe if the defendant is released.\u201d<\/p>\n

The judge continued that there were \u201csignificant gaps\u201d in Razzell\u2019s \u201cunderstanding of the risk he poses\u201d, meaning it was \u201cfar from sufficient to persuade me that there is a secure foundation\u201d for the Parole Board\u2019s conclusion.<\/p>\n

She also said that the plan to manage Razzell\u2019s release \u201crelies on trust that has not been earned\u201d.<\/p>\n

Razzell, of Crewkerne, Somerset, has always denied being responsible for the killing.<\/p>\n

\"GlynGlyn Razzell (right) leaving the Royal Courts of Justice, central London, where the High Court is hearing the Ministry of Justice’s challenge to the Parole Board decision to release him (PA)<\/p>\n

He was previously denied parole three times from 2019, with a Parole Board panel finding in 2023 that he \u201cdoes not want to lose his desired status of being a \u2018wrongly convicted murderer’\u201d.<\/p>\n

In its April decision, a Parole Board panel said it had \u201cserious doubts\u201d about Razzell\u2019s honesty and that there was a \u201cvery significant\u201d risk in the context of relationships.<\/p>\n

But it continued that this risk was \u201cnot imminent\u201d and that Razzell would comply with licence conditions as he was \u201cstrongly motivated not to return to custody\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Parole Board also considered Helen\u2019s Law, named after Helen McCourt, who vanished on her way home from work in 1988.<\/p>\n

The law requires the Parole Board to take into consideration a killer\u2019s refusal to disclose where they hid their victim\u2019s body.<\/p>\n

The MoJ can refer a Parole Board\u2019s decision to release a prisoner to the High Court if it believes the release would undermine public confidence in the parole system, and the court must be satisfied that imprisonment is no longer necessary for the protection of the public.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":738306,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,244062,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-738305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-glyn-razzell-parole-pa2026","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/738305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=738305"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/738305\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/738306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=738305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=738305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=738305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}