Britain’s worst female paedophile Vanessa George WILL walk free as justice minister says there are NO grounds to launch judicial review of decision to free her
- Eighteen-stone nursery worker Vanessa George abused tiny children in her care
- Due to be released after 10 years as she’s ‘no longer considered risk to children’
- Decision to release paedophile sparked public outcry and calls for formal review
- But justice minister Robert Buckland said no flaws in case that justify review
Vanessa George, 49, of Plymouth, Devon, was jailed for a minimum of seven years in 2009
Britain’s worst female paedophile will walk free despite a public outcry because there are no grounds to launch a judicial review into the decision to free her, according to a justice minister.
Vanessa George, 49, of Plymouth, Devon, was jailed for a minimum of seven years in 2009 after taking 64 pictures of herself harming babies and toddlers at the Little Ted’s nursery.
It was announced earlier this month she would be released after Parole Board officials said she was no longer a risk to children.
The decision triggered fierce backlash among parents and politicians.
But justice minister Robert Buckland told MPs that his examination of the case has not highlighted the sort of procedural flaw needed to justify a court allowing such a review.
He also said it did not appear that any other offences by George were ‘left to lie on the file’, unlike the case of black-cab rapist John Worboys.
Two victims of Worboys succeeded in making the Parole Board reconsider its decision to release him after bringing a judicial review, arguing ‘critical evidence’ of the ‘wider allegations’ against Worboys should have been taken into account.
Mr Buckland commented on the case of George during a parliamentary debate.
George is pictured on the phone to her lawyer while in police custody in Plymouth in 2009
Justice minister Robert Buckland said his examination of the case has not highlighted the sort of procedural flaw needed to justify a court allowing a review of the Parole Board’s decision to release her
Eighteen-stone George and two accomplices used mobile phones to film and send images of what a police officer described as ‘child abuse in its most horrific and devilish form’.
George admitted 13 charges but police believe she came into contact with more than 200 children in her time at Little Ted’s nursery in the city.
She has never revealed the names of the children she abused when she took them off alone to ‘change their nappy’ in private, nor how many.
She was refused parole in May 2017 after serving the minimum seven years of her sentence but now the Parole Board no longer considers her a danger to children.
In its decision summary the panel which examined her case said her ‘release plan’ included ‘very strict and extensive licence conditions, requiring Ms George to live at an address approved by professionals as well as preventing her from using social media and restricting her movements and contacts.
It stated that plan was ‘robust enough to manage Ms George in the community.’
But parents in Plymouth, many of whom insisted George should not be freed without revealing the names of her victims, are still dealing with the emotional and psychological fall out of the case a decade later.
One parent, anonymised as ‘Leslie’, told Plymouth Live that even seeing Vanessa George’s face in the media raised serious concerns and is concerned images of George could be a ‘trigger’ for the children involved.
They said: ‘You try and make things normal, knowing what you know, but it’s a nightmare.
‘You worry that one day they will see her face and it will trigger a deeply-buried memory.’
George’s accomplice Angela Allen (left) raped a girl of three, while the ringleader of the paedophile gang was Colin Blanchard (right) and he will be eligible for parole next year
HM Prison Send is a closed category women’s prison, south of Ripley nearer Send in Surrey
Leslie said parents were particularly angry that George’s release comes as many of the children she abused or who attended the nursery have begun to reach their early teens.
Leslie said: ‘Being released now, she hasn’t given the children chance to grow up, to become adults, to be old enough to deal with it if it does trigger something, if there is something in the back of their minds.
‘My child has seen me fold the newspaper over at the front so the picture of Vanessa was hidden and asked me “why do you do that?”.
What do I say? ‘This is what we’ve all been left with, to deal with it alone.’
Little Ted’s nursery in Plymouth
Leslie criticised the authorities for not remaining in touch since George was sentenced, saying despite moving house they retained the email address they gave police when George was arrested with the promise of being kept updated and informed.
Leslie said they feared their child, whose older siblings are aware of the case, would begin to ask questions.
Leslie said: ‘This is what is like for all those parents involved.
‘They have known, as their child grew up, about what Vanessa George had done.
‘Their parents knew, the children’s grandparents knew, the aunts and uncles knew, older siblings sometimes knew.
‘All of them have had to deal with this awful secret for years and years, always wondering “was my child the one, was my child abused by her?”‘
Leslie said friends had contacted her to offer support since news broke of George’s release.
Leslie slammed George’s release, saying: ‘She can make a new life and we will have to keep living this one.’
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