Murder victim Claire Streader's father wants her killer to die in jail
Peter Streader hopes his
daughter Claire's killer commits suicide in prison
by Alex Claridge
The father of Canterbury murder victim Claire Streader
wants her killer to die in prison - ahead of a crucial parole board
hearing.
Peter Streader says he hopes Merrick Rogers will either commit
suicide inside or die without ever being released.
Rogers sexually assaulted and strangled 24-year-old Claire
(pictured below) on Beverley Field in St Stephen's as she
walked back to her family home in Downs Road on May 31, 1999.
The 36-year-old has never admitted to his crime and
was jailed only after a murder trial at Lewes Crown Court.
He has been having parole board hearings and managed to
have his status moved down from a category B to category C
- meaning means is no longer held in a maximum-security
prison.
Rogers, who lived in Canterbury's Forty Acres Road at the
time of the murder, has another parole board hearing in
September.
Mr Streader - a retired British Telecom and Eurotunnel
employee - fears Rogers may soon end up in an open prison,
which would afford him days out before he is finally released on
licence.
"I hope he never comes out, I hope he kills himself inside,"
said Mr Streader, 69, who lives in Ainsley Way, Chartham.
"I have to live with the fact that he one day he may be in an
open prison and allowed out in a year or 18 months, but that's
something I will have to deal with then.
"In my victim personal statements, I have said that he
should not be allowed back into Canterbury, but really I've been
arguing that he shouldn't be released at all.
"I'm of the opinion that life should mean life. It's not much
punishment if he's released early."
Claire Streader was
murdered on Beverley Field, Canterbury
Claire's son Ben, now 21, was just eight when his mother was
killed. He lives with grandfather and has tried to lead as ordinary
a life as possible.
Mr Streader's wife Ann died in 2008. He has always blamed Rogers
for her death.
Rogers, a former pupil of the Geoffrey Chaucer School, denied
murdering Claire. But he was convicted on the strength of
forensic evidence, which showed that his saliva was on her breast
when she was found.
25/04/12
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