Garry Newlove was “kicked like football” in front of his family by drunken young people he had caused after vehicles were vandalized outside his home in Cheshire. Adam Swellings was one of three teenagers convicted of murder, committed after seven hours of alcohol overeating. Swellings, then 19, was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum sentence of 17 years. Stephen Sorton, 17, was sentenced to a minimum of 15 years, and Jordan Cunliffe, 16, was sentenced to at least 12 years. The decision on whether to support the council’s decision to transfer the 33-year-old Swellings to a lower security prison now rests with Justice Secretary Dominic Raab. Newlove, a 47-year-old sales manager and father of three, confronted the teens barefoot before hitting him on the ground outside his Warrington home. The group left, leaving Newlove’s wife and three daughters to help him. Two days later, he died at the hospital from a head injury. In its recommendation, the council said there were “no concerns” about Swellings’s conduct during his detention and that his conduct was “considered exemplary”. The Swellings officer noted that he maintained a “positive outlook” and a psychologist said open conditions were “more realistic” to monitor his progress. A move to an open prison is often the precursor to a full release. The council handles about 26,000 cases a year and less than 1% of the detainees it releases commit a serious further offense. Stephen Sorton (left), Jordan Cunliffe (center) and Adam Swellings were jailed in 2008. Photo: Cheshire Constabulary / PA During the 2008 trial, the jury heard that Swellings had smoked five cannabis joints and drank four liters of cider. He knocked Newlove to the ground as other members of the gang shouted “Get him” and “Do him, Swellhead”. Canliff boasted that “they had just hit a man and he was not moving.” Calling the incident a “gang attack” when he jailed the teenagers, Judge Andrew Smith said: “It was the actions of a courageous and dedicated family man who paid with his life. “The three of you were so brave because you surpassed him many times.” In 2008, Newlove’s wife, Helen, told reporters that the United Kingdom should have the death penalty and believed the convicted trio should never be released. In the document detailing the verdict, Swellings described that he had “difficulties in dealing with extreme emotions” at the time of the murder and that he covered his “low self-esteem” with “arrogance in order to maintain his position with antisocial friends”. Following the case, Helen, now Baroness Newlove, campaigned for youth crime and set up a charity, Newlove Warrington, to improve facilities for children in Cheshire. From 2012 to 2019 he served as Victim Commissioner for England and Wales.
