Sheffield woman 'disgusted' as abusive ex released under four months into 15-month prison sentence

Lorna Hill was just 19 when she was attacked days before Christmas 2018 by her then partner Kieron Doyle in the flat they shared at the time in Catcliffe.

Doyle, 22, of Brinsworth Hall Drive, in Brinsworth, Rotherham, admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm (ABH) and was sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court on November 15 last year to 15 months behind bars.

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However, he was released under home curfew with an electronic tag on Monday, March 9 - little over a quarter of the way through his jail term.

Ms Hill says she was only notified of his release later that day by her probation service support worker, who told her she had not been informed in advance.

"The sentence was ridiculous in the first place, given what he did to me, but if you get a 15-month sentence you should serve 15 months, not three-and-a-half months,” she said.

"I think it's absolutely disgusting that he's out already, and I can't believe I wasn't told sooner.

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“Apparently I was supposed to find out last week that he was being released early, but the probation officer who works with victims says she didn’t find out until the morning he was released.”

Ms Hill still bears a scar from the attack, in which her face was cut and her eye badly bruised, and told how she suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) which left her afraid to leave her home in the weeks and months following the beating.

"People who commit minor crimes spend longer in jail than he has, yet he's ruined my life. What he did is always going to be on my mind. I'm always going to be cautious with other people because of what happened," she said.

"I'm getting better now but I couldn't sleep or eat at first and I kept having flashbacks. It was awful.

"I would say to other victims of domestic violence that even if you don't feel like you can get out, you can. Just speak to someone."

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A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said: "We are deeply sorry for this mistake and the distress caused to Ms Hill, and have already met with her to discuss this.

"Release on Home Detention Curfew is subject to a risk assessment and offenders are electronically tagged and given strict licence conditions. If these restrictions are breached they face a return to prison."

Home Detention Curfew, which allows for the early release and electronic monitoring of prisoners serving sentences of between 12 weeks and four years, has been running since 1999.

The Ministry of Justice says the measure, which is subject to risk assessment, helps convicts reintegrate back into the community and reduces the risk of further offending.