The North West’s most heinous killers now blocked from getting married knot behind bars

Two of the North West’s most heinous killers have been told they can’t get hitched while behind bars.

Dale Cregan, who will spend the rest of his life in a cell for the murder of four people including two female police officers in Tameside, and Mark Fellows, the Salford hitman behind two killings, are among 70 of the UK’s worst criminals who have been blocked from getting married or entering a civil partnership under new legislation that came into force yesterday (August 2).

The new Lord Chancellor signed a measure in the Victims and Prisoners Act into law banning inmates who are serving whole life tariffs from getting hitched, as LancsLive reports. Inmates serving whole life orders have no chance of being released from jail, unless excepted in exceptional compassionate circumstances.

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This will deny the most heinous criminals from enjoying the important life events they callously took from their victims, while preventing families from the trauma of seeing them getting married or entering civil partnerships. Whole life orders are reserved for exceptionally serious offenses, such as serial or child murders which involved a substantial degree of premeditation or sexual or sadistic conduct.

In 2013, Dale Cregan was handed a whole life order at Preston Crown Court after being found guilty of murdering police women Nicola Hughes and Fiona Bone in a bullet and grenade attack. He was also convicted of killing father and son David and Mark Hughes before the attack on the officers.

Mark Fellows was handed a whole life order in 2019 after being found guilty of the contract killing of Manchester’s ‘Mr Big’ Paul Massey in an Uzi attack in 2015. Three years later he shot dead Massey’s pal John ‘Scouse’ Kinsella near Rainhill in Merseyside .

The list of prisoners now blocked from getting married also includes Wayne Couzens, who raped and murdered Sarah Everard, and killer Levi Bellfield. Bellfield has previously applied to marry his girlfriend and made a bid for legal aid to challenge a decision to block his marriage. It is understood he withdrew his application to get married but had submitted a new application for a civil partnership in recent months.

Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, said: “Victims should not be tormented by seeing those who commit the most depraved crimes enjoy the moments in life that were stolen from their loved ones. That is why I have acted as soon as possible to stop these marriages and give victims the support they deserve.”

Prior to the law coming into force, all prisoners could make an application for marriage or a civil partnership to take place during the course of their sentence. The application could only be refused by a prison governor if it raised security concerns.

However the Victims and Prisoners Act now sets out to strengthen how criminal justice agencies treat victims, and makes the Victims’ Code law. It will also ensure that the most heinous crimes are treated with the severity they deserve and maintain confidence in the justice system. The Lord Chancellor will retain the right to permit ceremonies in the most exceptional circumstances.