BBC
The mother of a schoolboy who died in a house explosion said she was “absolutely raging” to find out the man responsible could be released from prison early.
Archie York died in October 2024 when his family home in Benwell, Newcastle, was destroyed when an illegal cannabis lab in the flat below blew up.
Drug dealer Reece Galbraith was jailed for 14 years for manslaughter and was due to be eligible for release after two thirds of his sentence. But Archie’s mother said she had been told he could be released after half his term.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said, without action, prisons would “run out of space entirely” and prison leavers would be tagged unless there was a reason not to.
Archie’s mother Katherine Errington said: “For the upset that Galbraith caused for me, my family, the whole wider community of people who were going down to Violet Close and dealing with that scene, the cost to the council of £3.7m in damage – seven years is absolutely shocking.
“It makes me so angry – we need tougher laws, not being more lenient.
“Archie’s was a very important, innocent life lost.”
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