Teen Killer Who Staged Mother’s Murder Like a TV Plot Moved to Open Prison

Daniel Bartlam, who brutally murdered his mother at just 14 years old, has been transferred to an open prison after serving 12 years of his sentence. The now 27-year-old was convicted for the shocking 2011 killing of his mother, Jacqueline Bartlam, at their home in Redhill, Nottingham.

Inspired by the fictional character John Stape from Coronation Street, Bartlam developed a dark obsession that led him to plan and commit the crime. Mimicking a storyline from the show, he wrote a script in which a character based on himself murdered his mother with a hammer. On Easter Monday in April 2011, Bartlam attacked Jacqueline, striking her head and face seven times with a claw hammer, reported by Nottingham Post.

In a bid to cover up the murder, Bartlam moved her body, surrounded it with newspaper, doused it in petrol, and set it on fire. He attempted to stage the scene as an intruder attack, placing a hammer nearby and fleeing the house with his younger sibling and the family dog. However, investigators uncovered the truth, and he was found guilty by a jury.

The decision to transfer Bartlam to an open prison was recommended by the Parole Board but required approval from the Secretary of State for Justice. The Parole Board emphasized that such moves are only approved if the risk to the public is deemed manageable.

A spokesperson for the Parole Board stated: “We will only make a recommendation for open conditions if a Parole Board panel is satisfied that the risk to the public has reduced sufficiently to be manageable in an open prison. Protecting the public is our number one priority.”

The decision involved a rigorous three-step test to evaluate Bartlam’s risk of absconding, his progress during incarceration, and the justification for transferring him to open conditions. The move aims to assess his readiness for a potential future reintegration into the community.

The Ministry of Justice also stressed the strict measures in place for such transfers. “Life-sentenced prisoners must pass a robust risk assessment before any move to open conditions, and we do not hesitate to move them back to closed prisons if they break the rules,” a spokesperson confirmed.

Bartlam’s transfer has sparked discussions about the challenges of balancing rehabilitation with public safety in cases involving such heinous crimes.