Overview
- Officials from the Ministry of Justice contacted the family on Friday to say Malcolm Waite could be considered for early release under the Sentencing Act 2026.
- Waite was convicted in November 2022 of causing death by dangerous driving after mounting the pavement on the A149 in Stalham and killing 20-year-old Fenella Hawes; he was jailed for eight years.
- The prime minister ordered a pause and an urgent review of the early-release scheme after public outrage over high-profile cases, including the potential eligibility of two killers of PC Andrew Harper.
- Fenella Hawes’s relatives say the MoJ contact has reopened trauma and they want anyone who has caused a death to be excluded from the scheme, saying the prospect of his return to the community is terrifying.
- Under the Sentencing Act the scheme would let some people serving determinate sentences be considered for earned progression after about a third of their term, a change that could affect thousands and which the review may now narrow or alter.