Angus killer Tasmin Glass will go before the parole board on May 29 as the panel try to decide, for a second time, if she should be released back into society.
The Courier remains firm in our belief that she should not be paroled five years into a ten-year sentence for her role in the brutal murder of Steven Donaldson in Kirriemuir.
Glass was convicted of culpable homicide and it would be a betrayal of the Donaldson family’s grief, and of justice, is she were to serve just half of that sentence.
Steven’s family have made their representations to the board that the killer should remain behind bars – the panel must listen to them and put their testimony first.
Communication breakdown
This is the second time the panel will look at Glass’ case after they failed to come to a verdict on February 28.
They postponed their ruling for an oral hearing.
The Donaldson family were not aware deferral was an option – nobody told them.
More than eight weeks after the postponement they waited anxiously, wondering why there was no update.
They knew they were due three weeks’ notice before the oral hearing could take place.
The family were of the belief that Glass would have her hearing by May 3 – the date she would have been released if the parole board found in her favour on February 28.
But the three week point came and went without contact.
Nobody at the parole board thought it pertinent to tell them the May 3 date no longer applied – that the rules change when a decision is not made first time round.
A mountain of slightly differing rules for very similar looking cases seems to be a major part of the parole board system.
Family had to take own action for update
The lack of communication from the parole board since February 28 is symptomatic of an organisation that lacks transparency at nearly every stage in their dealings with victims and their families.
Tired of waiting, and of being kept in the dark, the Donaldsons and The Courier decided to act.
On Monday morning, we and Steven’s sister Lori contacted Victims’ Support and the parole board asking why the family had not been given a date for the oral hearing.
By Monday afternoon they were notified that the hearing would be held on May 29.
It is of mammoth coincidence the parole board happened to set a date on the very day the family and The Courier asked why there had been no update.
It should not take direct action by families and newspapers for the parole board to provide victims with the common courtesy of long-awaited information.
A Voice for Victims
At a time when families need empathy from the system, they are instead met with a wall of silent bureaucracy.
The parole board would no doubt point to a clause within a clause on some part of their website that explains the differing rules to those who search, scroll and scratch their heads trying to find it.
But they are not explained to victims and their families as a standard, as a basic show of compassion.
Instead those families are left waiting on an update that never comes.
At a time of unimaginable strain and pressure they are left out of the loop, isolated from the process, kept at arms-length by the organisation they are relying on for justice.
In The Courier’s A Voice for Victims campaign, we have spoken to many victims and families, including the Donaldsons, who feel like they are forgotten within the parole system.
It is time to ensure they are put at its centre.
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