A sadistic sex killer will have his parole hearing held in private because he fears coming face-to-face with her distraught mother, MailOnline has learned.
Stephen Wynne, 47, killed Chantel Taylor with a meat cleaver in Birkenhead, in March 2004.
Wynne murdered 27-year-old mum-of-three Chantel, a sex worker, by striking her in the neck and then dismembering her body with a saw.
The killer later stashed Chantel’s remains in her own loft before moving them a few days later into nearby woods and the local tip.
Her body has never been found.
Chantel’s mother Jean Taylor has campaigned tirelessly to ensure that Wynne is not released.
In order to win release, Wynne would be required to give evidence and answer questions put by the three person parol panel.
And in a blow to her family, the Parole Board ruled in favour of the killer, saying he would be ‘overwhelmed’ knowing Chantel’s family would be present.
Stephen Wynne, 47, murdered a 27-year-old mum-of-three by striking her in the neck and then dismembering her body with a saw
The killer later stashed the remains of Chantel Taylor (pictured) in her own loft before moving them a few days later into nearby woods and the local tip – her body has never been found
Chantel’s mother Jean Taylor has campaigned tirelessly to ensure that Wynne is not released but she is now unable to attend his parole hearing as the killer would be ‘overwhelmed’ knowing victim’s family would be present
Last night furious Jean told us: ‘The parole hearing should be in public.
‘He might not want to see my face and I certainly don’t want to see his.’
And she added: ‘Anyway he does not deserve parole full stop. I am sorry but I still find this matter hugely upsetting.’
Wynne was only caught when he tried to torch a mosque in Birkenhead in a bizarre revenge bid after the 7/7 London bombings in 2005.
The former soldier got a minimum term of 21-years at Liverpool Crown Court in January 2006.
This was later cut to 18-years by the Court of Appeal, which expired on the 27th July 2023.
Wynne had a parole appeal rejected in August 2023 and is due a second hearing in the next few months.
The Parole Board was asked by a member of the public – who was not named – to open it to outside observation.
Under these rules, members of the victim’s family and journalists could watch the proceedings via video link.
A written report states:”If Mr Wynne was required to give evidence when he knew that members of the victim’s family and many members of the public were watching or listening to him there is a strong probability that he would be overwhelmed by their hostility towards him and would be unable to ‘give best evidence.’
The report revealed that Wynne was aware of the loathing towards him because a victim personal statement (VPS) made by Chantel’s mother for the first parole hearing was mistakenly given to him.
It states:’ He would not be permitted to listen to the victim personal statement (‘VPS’) made by the victim’s mother being read at the commencement of the hearing but due to a serious mistake by a member of prison staff the VPS (or a previous version of it) was disclosed to him.
‘It had been the subject of a successful non-disclosure application and should not therefore have been disclosed to Mr Wynne. He must therefore be only too well aware of the victim’s mother’s strong feelings about him.’
It added:’I am satisfied that Mr Wynne’s fears for the safety of his family and himself are genuine. This case has attracted a great deal of public attention, all of it extremely hostile to Mr Wynne.
‘That attention has inevitably been increased by the actions of the victim’s mother who has, entirely understandably and properly, campaigned tirelessly for a substantial increase in the sentences for offences of this kind.
‘She has strongly criticised the courts and the Parole Board for their handling of this case. She has expressed the view that the sentence imposed on Mr Wynne was wholly inadequate, that he should never have been transferred to an open prison and that he should certainly not be released on licence.’
The panel also heard that his family would be at risk because of previous coverage of the horrific murder and the mosque attack.
‘His fears of retribution for the arson offence come from the religious aspects of that offence.
‘There is a fear of extremists seeking retribution,’ the report states.
The panel also felt that ‘professional witnesses’ like prison officers may be intimidated by the public hearing.
It concluded:’I am satisfied that the argument in favour is substantially outweighed by the cumulative effect of the factors which I have described.’
Her body was never discovered, meaning her family were forced to hold a funeral with just traces of her DNA from the murder scene.
In 2023 Wynne won the right to be moved to an open prison after a judge dismissed an objection by the then Deputy Prime Minister, Dominic Raab.
A senior judge ruled in Wynne’s favour, concluding that the Government had provided ‘no good reason’ for rejecting the board’s recommendation.
Jean Taylor, has previously told of the ‘deep distress and devastation’ felt by her family over the murder.
Earlier this year Mrs Taylor travelled to London to present a petition to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer demanding a change in the law alongside Chantel’s daughter, Whitney, 31, and her sister, Natasha, 53.
The family was supported by MP Esther McVey.
They say current rules known as Helen’s Law, in memory of Helen McCourt, whereby a killer who refuses to disclose the location of their victim’s remains are barred from being granted parole, has a “significant limitation”.
Chantel’s family say Helen’s law allows offenders who falsely claimed to reveal the location of concealed body parts to ‘avoid the full accountability they deserve during parole hearings.
