Killer controlling mum 'even in death', court told

The partner of a murdered mother-of-four has said her killer continues to exert "coercive control over people even in death".

Glyn Razzell from Crewkerne, Somerset, was jailed for life with a minimum of almost 16 years in 2003 for murdering his estranged wife, Linda Razzell, whose body has never been found.

The Parole Board has ruled three times since 2019 that Razzell should remain in prison, but in April decided he could be released on licence - despite his refusal to reveal what he had done with Linda's body.

On Tuesday, Linda's partner at the time of her death, Greg Worrall, told a High Court hearing Razzell was still coercively controlling her and her family "even in death".

"We have rebuilt our lives based on the fact he cannot harm us any more," Worrall told judges through a video link.

He said Linda's family had "picked up the pieces of our shattered lives" with the support of friends and family, and had found "love and purpose" despite "sadness which will always be there".

The mother-of-four disappeared on her way to work at Swindon College, Wiltshire, in March 2002, amid divorce proceedings.

Worrall also asked judges to take Helen's Law into account - legislation which requires the Parole Board to consider a killer's refusal to disclose where they hid their victim's body.

"He is still committing the crime of denial of lawful burial and exercising coercive control," he said, adding: "We need an end to the ongoing agony."

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has referred the decision on whether to release Razzell to the High Court, telling a two-day hearing that the Parole Board failed to consider his risk properly.

In his statement, Worrall explained that he felt Razzell still posed a threat, adding: "Am I safe? Are my family safe? Are the wider community safe?"

Razzell, who is attending the hearing in London, has always denied being responsible for the killing. A Parole Board panel found in 2023 that he "does not want to lose his desired status of being a 'wrongly convicted murderer'".

In its April decision, a Parole Board panel said that it had "serious doubts" about Razzell's honesty and that there was a "very significant" risk in the context of relationships, but said this was "not imminent".

It decided that he would comply with licence conditions as he was "strongly motivated not to return to custody".

Matthew Stanbury, for Razzell, told the court that there should not be "undue focus on one particular course which is seen as a silver bullet in fixing risk".

The barrister said in written submissions that the Parole Board's decision was "detailed and thorough", and that the MoJ's case "comes close to treating denial as conclusive to risk".

At the end of the hearing, judge Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said that she would give her decision "in a matter of weeks".

She later said: "I hope there is some movement in the defendant's mind. It is in his hands to do so."

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