Notorious killer Michael Sams, 80, ruled too dangerous to be released from prison

NOTORIOUS killer Michael Sams has been ruled too dangerous to be released from prison despite being almost 80.

Murderer and kidnapper Sams, who evaded cops after picking up £175,000 in ransom cash, has now served 28 years of his life sentence.

His case was automatically referred to the Parole Board by the Ministry of Justice for review.

But 78-year-old Sams, who says he prefers life behind bars, was judged to be still a danger to the public and parole was denied.

His case is not due to be considered again until next year.

The one-legged killer kidnapped Julie Dart, 18, in Leeds in 1991. He took her to his workshop in Newark, Notts, where he kept her in a makeshift coffin.

She broke out of the box but was trapped in the workshop and Sams bludgeoned her to death with a hammer before dumping her body in a field.

In January 1992, he lured estate agent Stephanie Slater, 25, to a rundown semi-detached house, saying he wanted to view the property.

Sams was captured the following month after the first of his three wives heard a recording of his voice on Crimewatch. He was given four life terms in 1993.

'Better inside'

His case will go before the Parole Board again next May, though Sams believes pensioners have a better life behind bars.

In 2007, he wrote a letter to Inside Time, the newspaper for prisoners, in which he claimed 'OAPs in prison are far better off than those in the community." He bragged that his living conditions in HMP Whitemoor, Cambridgeshire, were better than what he could expect as a free man. At the time, he was responding to a campaign for elderly convicts to receive the state pension.

"How many pensioners, who are totally dependent on the basic state pension and live in rented accommodation, are able to spend around £20 per week on luxuries?," he wrote.

"Most struggle to keep warm in winter, afraid to put the heating on, barely eating, let alone getting three square (readymade) meals per day. Free access to the gym to keep those joints supple and no bills except for £1 per week TV rental.

"Have you ever seen an OAP inmate in tatty clothes or scruffy trainers? Not a hope! Materially, we OAPs in prison are far better off than those in the community."

His case has provoked fury in the past after he won £4,000 in damages when the prison service lost his false leg. He also brought a civil case to claim his prison bed was too hard.

In 1997 a further eight years were added to his sentence after he took a female probation officer hostage in his cell with a metal spike.

Estate agent Stephanie, who worked with police to improve treatment of victims of crime following her ordeal, died of cancer aged 50 in 2017.

She was released after a £175,000 ransom was paid by her employer. Cops later recovered £125,000 of the cash buried in a field.

The Parole Board does not comment on individual cases.

But a spokesperson said: “Legislation dictates that a Parole Board decision is solely focused on whether a prisoner would represent a significant risk to the public after release and whether their risk can be safely managed in the community.

“In order to assess the risk posed by an offender, a panel will look for evidence of behaviour change since the original offence was committed. The panel will also consider how an offender will manage in the community and look at the risk management plan.

"It is open to a prisoner to notify the Board and the Secretary of State if they do not want a panel to consider the case or if they do not want to attend an oral hearing which has been listed.

"The Parole Board will take into account a prisoner’s own thoughts and views, however, if the prisoner satisfies the statutory test, the panel will make a direction for his release, which it is compelled to do by law.”

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