Michael Sams: Murderer and kidnapper to bid for freedom at hearing

Notorious murderer and kidnapper Michael Sams, who was jailed for life 30 years ago, will make a bid for freedom at an upcoming parole hearing.

Sams, now 81, from Sutton-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, killed Leeds teenager Julie Dart and kidnapped Birmingham estate agent Stephanie Slater.

The Parole Board said a hearing review would take place on 20 March.

It will determine "what risk [Sams] could represent to the public if released", a spokesperson said.

Sams was found guilty of the 1991 murder of 18-year-old Ms Dart following a trial at Nottingham Crown Court in 1993.

He had previously admitted kidnapping Ms Slater, who was 25, the following year, falsely imprisoning her and demanding a £175,000 ransom for her safe return.

Ms Slater, who died of cancer in 2017, was kept handcuffed, gagged and blindfolded in a coffin-like box, itself locked inside a wheelie bin in Sams' workshop in Newark-upon-Trent.

He used a similar means to imprison Ms Dart.

Sams will be questioned at length during the hearing, which could last a full day or more.

A Parole Board spokesperson 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.

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

Evidence from witnesses including probation officers, psychiatrists and psychologists, officials supervising the offender in prison, as well as victim personal statements will be given at the hearing, the Parole Board added.

A seven-part podcast on the Stephanie Slater case is available on BBC Sounds

Sams was caught when his third wife recognised his voice from a clip played on the BBC's Crimewatch programme.

The upcoming parole hearings comes after he failed in a bid to have his security risk downgraded in March 2012.

Sams was fighting to re-categorise his prisoner status from category A and told a High Court judge the level of risk he posed to women prison staff had fallen over the years.

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